HOW TO SURVIVE ON $50,000 TO $150,000 A YEAR.

by Stanley J. Cohen and Robert Wool '55 Houghton Mifflin, 1984. 246 pp., $13.95.

This very readable book offers four particularly useful pieces of advice to anyone who has enough money left over at the end of each month to save some.

First, taxes matter and you should plan with them in mind. There is no reason to pay more tax than you must. If you want to hold bonds, and you are in a high tax bracket, hold municipal bonds, the interest on which is relatively tax free. If you want to trade stocks actively, do so through an IRA or Keogh account, so the short-term gains aren't taxed immediately; otherwise, buy growth stocks in quest of long-term capital gains. Real estate and oil and gas tax shelters, while risky and exotic, ought to be considered seriously by all high tax bracket investors. Second, diversify your portfolio. Don't put all your wealth in one financial asset. Third, if you want life insurance, buy term insurance or simple payment life (this is tax advantaged). Forget about whole life. Fourth, handle futures, options, and other such instruments with extreme caution.

This lively and entertaining book is written in first person and spiced with personal anecdotes. It describes in general terms what reasonably successful professionals ought to do about saving, but it is short on specific "how-to" advice. From the information in the book, it would be hard for a do-it-yourselfer to make much of a start. Indeed, one particular bit of advice is flawed. "Load" mutual funds are not superior to "noload" funds, contrary to the authors' assertion; they simply cost more.

Apart from a few flaws, the book is sensible. Anybody fitting the description in the book's title can profit from a careful reading, whether they admit they know little or think they know a lot about personal financial planning.

Dr. Logue is a professor of businessadministration at Tuck and an expert infinancial planning.