Financial freedom, anyone?

Anthony (Tony) Robbins, who bills himself as a life and success coach and self-help author, is out with his first book in more than twenty years: Money: Master the Game — 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. It is vaulting to high levels on some best-seller lists.

Robbins Research International, founded in 1983, is still based in San Diego but Robbins bought a $24.75 million Palm Beach home in 2013 and reportedly spent $8 million to $10 million refurbishing it. He now calls Florida his home — possibly for tax reasons. He is said to be worth around $500 million.

The book gets positive reviews from those who who like simple self-help books, but those who follow markets closely cock an eyebrow at it.

For example, Cullen Roche of marketwatch.com concedes a lot of the book is helpful, but "the self-help guru contradicts himself and confuses readers." Roche points out that Robbins demonizes high fees but recommends working with firms "that will outsource you to high-fee firms. This is a contradiction that is difficult to reconcile." Robbins puts "many high-fee hedge fund managers on a pedestal."

Moreover, Robbins raves about great market calls he has made "without mentioning that he has made some horrible stock market calls," says Roche. Robbins sings the praises of a "never-before revealed" bond strategy that has actually been around for a long time.

Roche recalls that in 2012, Robbins made a video in which he warned that the United States was on the verge of a fiscal crisis because of the national debt. The crisis didn't come.

"Unfortunately, this is the problem with someone who is an expert in something (life strategies, in this case) who suddenly tries to conquer a huge topic like money. You have a tendency to oversimplify and misunderstand macroeconomic concepts."