I collected coins a kid. I went to college and studied econ. I worked in a bank. I later became a financial journalist. And later, a professional money manager. I’ve always been fascinated by money…the way it moves around the world, the enormous role it plays in peoples’ lives, the power it gives a select few, the good it can do, and the way it grows. As a fee-only financial planner running my own shop, I'm only peripherally involved with Wall Street. That frees me to step back and look at the key players, the shenanigans, the sometimes awful greed. The books I’ve selected were instrumental in helping others make their money work for them.
Okay, to be honest, this book can be summarized in just one sentence: You can’t predict the stock market. But, most investors, fed on a daily diet of silly and useless predictions from the financial press, needconvincing that this is true.Enter Professor Malkiel. We’re talking almost 500 pages of convincing. At the end of the book, you’ll either be an index investor, or you will continue to throw your money at “active” managers (AKA stock pickers and market timers) and you will continue to underperform the broad stock market. Malkiel helped open my eyes with the first edition of this book, now almost half a century ago. The book, of course, has been continually updated for those who still need convincing.
Today's stock market is not for the faint hearted. At a time of frightening volatility, the answer is to turn to Burton G. Malkiel's advice in his reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio, A Random Walk Down Wall Street now features new material on "tax-loss harvesting"; the current bitcoin bubble and automated investment advisers; as well as a brand-new chapter on factor investing and risk parity. And as always, Malkiel's core insights-on stocks and bonds, as well as investment trusts, home ownership and tangible assets…
Bernstein presents a compact (200-page) but stunningly accurate overview of the financial markets and what makes them tick. He provides solid tips – lots of them – for the little guy trying to navigate the swift and often dangerous waters of Wall Street. I’ve shared this book with a number of clients over the years to help them understand what I do and why I do it. Investing success, explains Bernstein, and I couldn’t agree more, isn’t about market timing or cherry-picking securities. It is about diversification, low costs, patience, and taking on just the right amount of risk. Bernstein is not only an expert in finance but is also a student of economic history who brings a fresh perspective to everything he covers.
A timeless approach to investing wisely over an investment lifetime With the current market maelstrom as a background, this timely guide describes just how to plan a lifetime of investing, in good times and bad, discussing stocks and bonds as well as the relationship between risk and return. Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, The Investor's Manifesto will help you understand the nuts and bolts of executing a lifetime investment plan, including: how to survive dealing with the investment industry, the practical meaning of market efficiency, how much to save, how to maintain discipline in the face of panics…
Bogle is a legend. He’s the guy who founded Vanguard investments. He’s the guy who brought index investing to the masses. He’s the guy I interviewed extensively for my book on indexing. He’s the guy who over many decades has helped small investors save billions in management fees with his introduction of low-cost passively managed (index) funds. John “Jack” Bogle has written half a dozen books, and his overall message is crystal clear: Successful investing means avoiding speculation, and avoiding high-cost speculators who want to gamble with your money. Start by reading this short book, and you may want to then read Bogle’s others. My mentor, who was known to many as Jack, died just a few years ago, he was almost 90, still smart as a tack, to the end on a mission help small investors. RIP, Jack.
The best-selling index investing "bible" offers new information and is updated to reflect the latest market data The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is the classic guide to getting smart about the market. Legendary mutual fund veteran John C. Bogle reveals his key to getting more out of investing: low-cost index funds. Bogle describes the simplest and most effective investment strategy for building wealth over the long term: buy and hold, at very low cost, a mutual fund that tracks the S&P 500 Stock Index. Such an index portfolio is the only investment that guarantees your fair share of…
Finance doesn’t easily lend itself to humor, but Richards will make you laugh. His insights into the human mind, and human frailties are pure gold. In The Behavior Gap he examines the bad decisions that nearly all investors seem to make before they become good investors. You will recognize yourself in Richards’ words and in his whimsical and thought-provoking illustrations. This book is not so much about the optimal strategies of investing, but rather it focuses on the mindset needed to carry out those strategies. Yes, even we professionals can sometimes fall prey to portfolio-destroying greed, fears, and pie-in-the-sky thinking. I have read Richards's book a number of times to help keep my head screwed on straight, and it works its magic every time!
"It's not that we're dumb. We're wired to avoid pain and pursue pleasure and security. It feels right to sell when everyone around us is scared and buy when everyone feels great. It may feel right-but it's not rational." -From The Behavior Gap
Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets-but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make.
As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He…
I’ve bumped into Richard “Rick” Ferri at a few financial conferences. He’s easy to recognize as the guy getting hate stares from across the room. Ferri thinks most financial professionals charge too much – way too much – and he isn’t shy about saying so. One of the reasons he loves passive (index) investing, as I do, is that it can be done at very little cost. If you think you want to be an index investor, but you aren’t sure where to start, I highly recommend this book. It will serve as an excellent pair of training wheels, explaining the whys and the hows of proper index investing. I’d also love to see many financial professionals read it, for they’d become better money managers if they did. Yeah, I’m talking about those guys I see in the back of the room giving Ferri the evil eye!
A practical guide to passive investing Time and again, individual investors discover, all too late, that actively picking stocks is a loser's game. The alternative lies with index funds. This passive form of investing allows you to participate in the markets relatively cheaply while prospering all the more because the money saved on investment expenses stays in your pocket. In his latest book, investment expert Richard Ferri shows you how easy and accessible index investing is. Along the way, he highlights how successful you can be by using this passive approach to allocate funds to stocks, bonds, and other prudent…
Bonds and bond funds are among the safest and most reliable investments you can make to ensure ample and dependable retirement income—if you do it right! Bond Investing For Dummies helps you do just that, with clear explanations of everything you need to know to build a diversified bond portfolio that will be there when you need it no matter what happens in the stock market.
This plain-English guide clearly explains the pros and cons of investing in bonds, how they differ from stocks, and the best (and worst!) ways to select and purchase bonds for your needs. You'll get up to speed on different bond varieties and see how to get the best prices when you sell.
