I am currently majoring in human biology in college right now, but I have decided to learn more about investing on my free time. For those of you who are experienced in this field, can you guys recommend any good books on investing/stocks/real estate?
I wish I would have read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki years ago. It may not answer all your questions but it will change your perspective.
You know it is funny you mentioned that. I just finished that book 3 days ago…and it is what got me interested in wanting to learn about investing.
You might want to check that site out before spending too much money on rich dad poor dad books. They were all pretty much worthless. They are motivate you to get rich, but don’t show you any way to get started, and the investment advice was non-existent.
I enjoyed and learned a good bit from Jim Cramer’s book “mad money”. I just finished Ken Fishers book “the only three questions that count” which was excellent. I liked Peter Lynch’s “beat the street” Finally you can read “the intelligent investor” by Benjamin Graham. It is the manual that Warren Buffet learned from. I didn’t really care for any of the motley fool books. They had OK personal finance info in their first book, but the investment stuff was a little weak.
I will look through all of my old books and see if I can find any other good ones that I might be forgetting.
I second the recommendation for the “Intelligent Investor”: if you were to pick only one book, you could do much worse than selecting that splendid tome. It is a bit dated, but that hardly matters since it shows you how to invest rather than what - teach a man to fish and all that. It cuts through the bullshit and shows you how to spot it. Solid investment.
Disgraced analyst Henry Blodget’s The Wall Street Self-defense Manual. One of the only books that takes into account modern economic understanding of markets. The long story short is this: not only will you never beat the market picking stocks, you will almost certainly do worse than it in the long run. Active trading is the absolute worst thing you could do.
The optimal strategy is to put the vast, vast majority (90+ percent at minimum, ideally 100%) of your money in the lowest cost index funds you can find. You will need to worry about asset allocation and diversification, and will need to rebalance your portfolio every few years. Other than that, put money in, forget about it.
[quote]llion60 wrote:
Disgraced analyst Henry Blodget’s The Wall Street Self-defense Manual. One of the only books that takes into account modern economic understanding of markets. The long story short is this: not only will you never beat the market picking stocks, you will almost certainly do worse than it in the long run. Active trading is the absolute worst thing you could do.
The optimal strategy is to put the vast, vast majority (90+ percent at minimum, ideally 100%) of your money in the lowest cost index funds you can find. You will need to worry about asset allocation and diversification, and will need to rebalance your portfolio every few years. Other than that, put money in, forget about it. [/quote]
That might be an optimal strategy, but it sure isn’t very much fun.
True.
If really just want to trade for fun, put 90% of your funds into passive indexes with an appropriate allocation and use 10% to speculate. I’m not saying that trading isn’t a bad hobby or whatever, it’s just a virtually guaranteed way to lose money.
If you’re actually beating the market consistently for years, after taking into account account taxes and transaction costs (i.e., if you’re actually seeing “alpha”) then you should probably just be a full-time money manager, as the vast majority of them cannot do this.
[quote]Flop Hat wrote:
That might be an optimal strategy, but it sure isn’t very much fun. [/quote]
buffetology Mary Buffett
intelligent investor Ben Graham
value investing for dummies
Benchmark Investing Kenneth Lee
How to make money in stocks William O’Neil
I’m glad this topic came up.
I’ve been saving money for a while because I was planning on buying a Jeep to play with up in the mountains, but after all the work and sacrafice, I just can’t bring myself to piss it all away.
I’ve been toying with the idea of investing instead of spending, but I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff. I’m definiteley going to look into a couple of those books.
You can make money if you trade. You just have to devote your entire life to trading. Jim Cramer was quite successful, getting 24% returns for a decade. All he had to do was work 20 hours a day.
A lot of people criticize Cramer, but Real Money was good. The Warren Buffet Portfolio was also good. I’ve learned a lot from investopedia.com. Also try and follow the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. When you don’t know something they talk about, look it up. It’s helped me tremendously.
“The Great Mutual Fund Trap” is a good intro. If you get interested in asset allocation after that one, get “The Intelligent Asset Allocator.”
I’ve been told [by investors] that a random walk down wall street is pretty good. I have yet to read it, but I plan to.
While we’re on the topic of making money, I HIGHLY suggest reading Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. If you choose to do it, I’m almost certain it’ll be the best investment you’ll ever make. Even if you don’t, my guess is that it’ll help you in some way, shape, or form on financial success.
Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape
Check out the Get Rich Slowly blog:
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/
Lots on info on just about every topic about money and then some. Also a lot of info on books about money so you can make a wise purchase finding what you want.
You should email CrewPierce.
Did you know he majored in finance while in college and therefore knows everything anyone could know about investing etc.!?!???!!
[quote]llion60 wrote:
True.
If really just want to trade for fun, put 90% of your funds into passive indexes with an appropriate allocation and use 10% to speculate. I’m not saying that trading isn’t a bad hobby or whatever, it’s just a virtually guaranteed way to lose money.
If you’re actually beating the market consistently for years, after taking into account account taxes and transaction costs (i.e., if you’re actually seeing “alpha”) then you should probably just be a full-time money manager, as the vast majority of them cannot do this.
Flop Hat wrote:
That might be an optimal strategy, but it sure isn’t very much fun.
[/quote]
This guy’s advice is applicable to 99% of us, myself certainly included. The market is going to average 10-15%. Pick an index fund that mirrors the market – S&P if you want to stay domestic, MSCI if you want a global portfolio. Sit back and watch. VERY few pros – as in ‘people entrusted to manage well in excess of $1B’ – out-perform the market with any consistency, and you’re probably no pro.
The ability to outperform the market in the long term isn’t about ‘picking winners’ – it’s about knowing when to be IN stocks and when to be OUT. For example, having the foresight to notice that the market was hugely inflated and getting out PRIOR to the 2000 tech tumble will make someone who otherwise brings in ‘average’ returns a huge success. Of course, that involves ‘timing the market’ which is, um, not entirely easy. But that’s why we should stick to index funds.
At your age, this post right here could change your life forever (then again it could for anyone of any age).
Read anything by Dave Ramsey, his Total Money Makeover book/CDs are life changing, I really can’t stress it enough.
While it may not be 100% devoted to investing, the overall principles should be taught in every HS in this country or at least college freshman
just PM me with your questions, and I shall answer them for a small fee.
The richest man in Babylon is a good book with solid advice, kind of like Rich Dad Poor Dad.
It has no specifics on how exactly to get rich, but has great principles.
Jim Cramer’s books are good as well.