Recommend me 2 great investing books you've read

[deek]

I finally was able to start up a Vanguard Roth and also place my tIRA funds into a VTSAX so I finally feel like I'm on the right path. The next step is learning more about what I can do for the future and learning about all kinds of different investing verbage. I'm going to read through the whole Stock Series that has been passed around, but what are some books you guys took a lot from??

Also, would prefer if it was a somewhat easy read and not filled with extra words/jargon to make the author sound extra smart.

[appleshampooid]

One of my favorites is The Intelligent Asset Allocator:
https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Asset-Allocator-Portfolio-Maximize/dp/0071362363

MMM review:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/02/17/book-review-the-intelligent-asset-allocator/

[flipboard]

I finally was able to start up a Vanguard Roth and also place my tIRA funds into a VTSAX so I finally feel like I'm on the right path. The next step is learning more about what I can do for the future and learning about all kinds of different investing verbage. I'm going to read through the whole Stock Series that has been passed around, but what are some books you guys took a lot from??

Also, would prefer if it was a somewhat easy read and not filled with extra words/jargon to make the author sound extra smart.

I personally have found William J Bernstein's books most useful, although I'm not sure they're the easiest to start with.

Certainly, "The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between" was a good read and tries to provide most of the basics - but I'd already read various other books including the Bogle classics by then, which made it easy to understand for me.

And once you have read that, I _strongly_ recommend his "Investing for Adults" series (consisting of 3 mini-books, and 1 full book), as it provides a lot of insight on planning for the whole lifecycle of investment. Most investing books that are recommended here talk a lot about asset allocation from the perspective of accumulation or withdrawal during "normal" times, but the "Investing for Adults" series covers the missing details such as transitioning from accumulation to withdrawal, how portfolios actually weather bear markets, and things like that. It certainly had the most impact on my long-term planning.

[deek]

I finally was able to start up a Vanguard Roth and also place my tIRA funds into a VTSAX so I finally feel like I'm on the right path. The next step is learning more about what I can do for the future and learning about all kinds of different investing verbage. I'm going to read through the whole Stock Series that has been passed around, but what are some books you guys took a lot from??

Also, would prefer if it was a somewhat easy read and not filled with extra words/jargon to make the author sound extra smart.

I personally have found William J Bernstein's books most useful, although I'm not sure they're the easiest to start with.

Certainly, "The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between" was a good read and tries to provide most of the basics - but I'd already read various other books including the Bogle classics by then, which made it easy to understand for me.

And once you have read that, I _strongly_ recommend his "Investing for Adults" series (consisting of 3 mini-books, and 1 full book), as it provides a lot of insight on planning for the whole lifecycle of investment. Most investing books that are recommended here talk a lot about asset allocation from the perspective of accumulation or withdrawal during "normal" times, but the "Investing for Adults" series covers the missing details such as transitioning from accumulation to withdrawal, how portfolios actually weather bear markets, and things like that. It certainly had the most impact on my long-term planning.

Just purchased a good used copy of the Manifesto. Thanks!!

[FIREball567]

A Simple Path to Wealth


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[solon]

I second A Simple Path to Wealth, by JL Collins. Simple, clear, and all you need to know.

If your brain wants to know a little more, try A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton Malkiel. Just enough skirt-lifting to be interesting, but no extra jargon beyond what is necessary. I really loved his short histories of big market bubbles. You've probably heard of the tulip bulb mania, but the story is truly fascinating.

[Kahooli]

The intelligent investor, benjamin graham.
https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283248&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Intelligent+Investor

Only book you really need. A good follow on is securities analysis by the same.

[Laserjet3051]

The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein

[solon]

The intelligent investor, benjamin graham.
https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283248&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Intelligent+Investor

Only book you really need. A good follow on is securities analysis by the same.

Intelligent Investor is pretty hard core. Lots of jargon, lots of analysis, and it deals with value investing, which is probably not the best way to go. (We want index funds here.) It's also mostly historical - even value investing has changed a bit in the last 70 years.

[Rasputin]

A Simple Path to Wealth


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I'm super new to all this stuff, but this book is absolutely wonderful. This man is able to clearly explain personal finance concepts so that even a brain-dead mental midget such as myself can understand them and make good decisions. And I'm fucking stupid!

[vand]

Two easy to read classics:

One Up On Wall Street - Peter Lynch
Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits - Phil Fischer

BTW I think The Intelligent Investor is a horrible read.

[OrchardTree]

The intelligent investor, benjamin graham.
https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283248&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Intelligent+Investor

Only book you really need. A good follow on is securities analysis by the same.

Agree. Just read Chapter 8. You'll know more about investing than most people you'll ever talk to.

[harvestbook]

I'm a believer in understanding the behavioral and psychological pitfalls and the cognitive biases that wreck many investors along with their budgets and their daily money management. So I always put Your Money and Your Brain by Jason Zweig at the top of my list.

After that, any book on keeping your investments cheap, broad, and simple. Bogle will do fine.

[mjchamb]

Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments by Micheal Batnick

A relatively quick read that hopefully will allow you to learn from the mistakes of others before you make them yourself. It also offers a more humbling view of some "superinvestors" you may be familiar with.

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Mistakes-Investors-Investments-Bloomberg/dp/1119366550

[RichMoose]

Devil Take the Hindmost, Ed Chancellor
Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein
Once you've read some basic modern investment stuff, these books explain crowd behavior and risk.

[Radagast]

A Simple Path to Wealth

The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein

I will agree with those two and in that order. That said I see you got Manifesto and it is also a good read. Just a little watered down and written in a more pessimistic phase of the author's career, when stocks were still below their 2007 highs.

I have read most of the others and they make great supplemental reading that you can learn a lot from, and I can recommend most of them.

The Intelligent Investor I cannot really agree with. It has one or two great and timeless chapters, and the rest is over 40 years old and about as useful as the era's computers. That was the first book I read as it was the only one available at my library when I started, and I really can't say it is one of the first 10 most useful books. I usually had no idea what was going on and it often went into long boring financial details that were obviously not relevant any more. I am not recommending against it, just saying there have been a lot of deep thinking investment writers since then and many things like tax rules are much different.

[deek]

Update -

I bought JL Collins' Simple Path to Wealth. 70 pages in and really enjoying it. Easy, but very engaging read.

The one thing I'm wondering if he'll address is his lack of attention to actually living live and spending a little money on the way to FI. I get that we need to save save save, but, since money isn't everything, you've got to indulge and spend money on yourself once in awhile, ya know?

[talltexan]

The intelligent investor, benjamin graham.
https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283248&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Intelligent+Investor

Only book you really need. A good follow on is securities analysis by the same.

Intelligent Investor is pretty hard core. Lots of jargon, lots of analysis, and it deals with value investing, which is probably not the best way to go. (We want index funds here.) It's also mostly historical - even value investing has changed a bit in the last 70 years.

I put Value Index Funds alongside my SPY. There's a premium to playing in the value space if you stay in it long enough. Check out "factor based investing" if you'd like to know more. Larry Swedroe and Paul Merriman have written a lot of good stuff about it.