73 books like The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert uses wit and science to reveal how we generally fail to predict what makes us happy and how we can do better.

I loved his discussions of why lottery winners aren't happier for long, how our memories create a "rosy past" illusion, and even why bad experiences can sometimes be better than good ones.

I loved the engaging stories and insightful experiments that Gilbert uses to dismantle common assumptions about happiness and offers fresh perspectives. I gained self-awareness and discovered unexpected paths to finding and savoring happiness.

Strap in for a thought-provoking journey that may just change how you view your own happiness and that of others-all with a healthy dose of humor.

This fascinating read tells the story of the rise and then spectacular fall of the once celebrated hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

What made LTCM so attractive to Wall Street investors was its stable of "dream team" quants and financial minds, led by the laconic John Merriweather. Merriweather (featured in the opening Chapter of Liar's Poker) was a former Solomon Brothers bond-trading guru, who after leaving the firm amid a scandal managed to assemble a team of financial powerhouses that included two Nobel Laureates as well as a cadre of respected traders.

From 1993 to 1997 LTCM's returns were first-rate; the sky seemed the limit for this small band of supertraders, professors, and modelers who arrogantly considered themselves a cut above the rest of The Street.

But in 1998, it all came crashing down...and right quick. Having believed their financial models could accurately predict price action not just in… show more.

I loved this timeless classic. This book gets down to the essence of how to safely navigate Wall Street, where everyone wants a slice of your financial pie. It’s a quick and hilarious read that challenges the conventional investment wisdom that Wall Street tries to get you to believe.

You’ll become a more savvy and skeptical investor and avoid costly mistakes in your financial life. I gave a copy of this book to all my three children, and they loved it too!

I first read this book as required reading for a college course, and it greatly changed how I thought about investing.

Over the years, I’ve read updated editions, and it never gets stale and always includes new information and insights. But the foundational issues have stood the test of time and remain in the newest edition.

I also love this book because it introduced me at a young age to mutual funds and Vanguard.

Based on scientific arguments, this book shows how strongly incorrect drives are stuck in our brains, causing us to think that we are making a logical decision, while this is not the case.

The best example I tell everybody: Look at your attic that you want to clean out. You empty your cupboards, and almost always, a large part goes back into the cupboard because it is a waste. But if you are offered the same stuff for free, you usually don't want it.

The message of this example: Your brain finds it difficult to get rid of something you have, and it is a non-rational reaction that occurs in our fixed brain.

I love this book because Ray is a master at building, evaluating, and improving systems and has taken the time to share his insights to help others do the same.

The principles he’s identified and described can simultaneously assist any investor to construct a better portfolio and any person to live a more successful and fulfilling life. This book offers a unique opportunity to learn from one of the most insightful people in history. 

The most popular book by the father of value investing, The Intelligent Investor imparts Graham’s time-tested stock and bond selection principles in a manner that is less technical and more conversational than Graham and Dodd’s earlier Security Analysis. Graham’s core principles around conducting intrinsic value analysis first and then purchasing securities that the market has mispriced at below that value are all addressed here in wonderful Graham prose. Since he pioneered that strategy, it makes good sense to read directly from the master. 

Aside from that, what I like about this book is that it addresses the often overlooked but vital psychological aspects of investing. Last but not least, did I mention that The Intelligent Investor is Warren Buffett’s favorite investment book of all time? When I interviewed him for my own book, he stated that Graham’s book “just made clear sense to me as a book about… show more.

The expanded third edition of this book was published in 2008. It contains the wisdom and wit arising from many years of the author’s investment experience. He and his partner Warren Buffett manage one of the largest investment operations in history.

As head of the Yale University endowment fund, the late David Swensen was one of the foremost innovators and most successful practitioners of institutional investing. Remarkably, he also wrote one of the best books ever for individual investors. Unconventional Success shows why on average, mutual fund investors significantly underperform the funds they own: They trade excessively, buying at the highs and selling at the lows, creating tax inefficiencies in the process. Swensen also valuably details hazards to avoid in fund selection. 

A “Black Swan” is a highly unlikely event that occurs with massive consequences. Think of 9/11 or the astonishing success of Google or Amazon.

The main issue relative to Black Swans, as explained by Talib, is that after the fact people are drawn to concocting detailed explanations that make them seem less random, and more predictable. In other words, people develop causal explanations that are completely wrong, but sound reasonable, and will then use them to predict the future.

In the words of Nate Silver, they invent a “signal” to explain what is in reality “noise.” These explanations also create a false sense of security about our ability to predict future events. In short, we fool ourselves into thinking that we know more than we actually do.