FIRE Recommended Reading List

I searched and couldn’t find a thread on this?

I would like to hear the best books and resources on FIRE, Asset Allocation, Investing, Index Funds, Value Investing, etc.

Which books have stood out and made a real impact on your FIRE?

On investing I'd recommend:
- The Four Pillars of Investment
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street
- All About Asset Allocation
- The Only Guide To A winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need

On retirement:
- Work Less, Live More
- Get A Life, You Don't Need A Million to Retire Well
- How To Retire Early and Live Well

...and I expect that SG's upcoming ER book will be excellent based on his contributions to the various ER forums over the years.

Cb

Add 'the millionaire next door' and I think you've got your hands full. Wasnt there one called 'the wealthy barber' that some folks liked?

Note that TMND and TFPOI are PhD written and they like to lay on the data nice and thick before telling you the conclusions, so 'driver/driver' types will go slightly mad reading them, which analytics will delight. Fortunately there are chapter summaries, so once your eyes start glazing over you can skip to the point.

I think one of the other books Cb mentioned was Bernsteins work prior to TFPOI and its a tough read. TFPOI was supposed to be a follow on that explained it so that people without fourteen degrees in economics and finance could get through it with their brains intact.

CFB...Allah Bout Assett Allocation was written by Rick Ferri.

The Bernstein book you're thinking of was The Intelligent Asset Allocator. I was kinda intimidated by the title myself and haven't read it. Ferri's book is a nice EZ step-by-step guide to building a well diversified portfolio.

Cb

Don't forget: Your Money or Your Life!

..probably one of the first "finance" books I read that talked about priorities, psychology and motivation instead of just what rates to expect on T-bills and describing what a mutual fund is. A lot of people here seem to have read and recommended it as well. Though it is drastic, the principals are sound (are you making a "living".. or making a "dying"?).

One of my fy favorites is "The Richest Man in Babylon"  by George S. Clason.  This is particularly good for young people or for anyone who doesn't yet "get it".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...2581/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4712699-2672155?ie=UTF8

I've also got these on my list from various posts here:

The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed. by Benjamin Graham
Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy J. Siegel

I would also add "The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperity" by Blaine Harris and Charles Coonradt
This was the first finance book I read back in 1998, great stuff on LBYM.

I ordered Work Less, Live More last week and saw 4 Pillars at the library.

The Coffeehouse Investor
http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/01369.htm
is always a good one to recommend. Small, short. The message is simple, but he spends time convincing the reader of the truth of it.

I agree with all of the previous books listed. I have read them all and agree. I would add any of the 3 books that John Bogle wrote to the list.

I'm currently reading Unconventional Success by Swensen. As I have not finished it yet, I would be hard pressed to recommend it. Since I have read 184 pages, I can easily recommend the first half of the book though.

I would also recommend the Kaderli's e-book: The Adventurers Guide to Early Retirement found at http://retireearlylifestyle.com/

Billy and Akaisha post here often and are a great source of information and motivation for those of us interested in retiring overseas or doing the perpetual traveller thing.

Both the Vanguard Die-Hards site and Bob Brinker's web site have pretty good recommended reading lists.

I think that it was Bernstein that recommended reading about market history, speculative booms, etc to give you a perspective for when Dot-com type situations come along.  I suspect that is particularly worth while if you want to try to actively manage you investments and beat the market versus a more passive asset allocation/index funds approach.

I'm currently reading Devil Take the Hindmost and it is recommeded on the Die-Hards site.

MB

mickeyd said:

I agree with all of the previous books listed. I have read the all and agree. I would add any of the 3 books that John Bogle wrote to the list.

Click to expand...

Common Sense on Mutual Funds is a must read. It drives home the fallacy of many actively managed mutual funds, talking about true costs these funds incur and their effects on performance.

What I have learned from some of the books from the reading list:
-- Live below your means.
-- Start savings early becuase compound return makes a big difference.
-- Invest in low cost funds.
-- Diversify among non-correlated assets. You can start with just 4 funds: Total Stock Market Fund, Total Bond Market Fund, Total International Fund, Money-Market Fund.
-- Reduce equity exposure as retirement is near.
-- Resist the temptation to time the market unless valuation is out of wack.

Online summary for Your Money or Your life
http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/fom-about-summary.asp

long on motivation, short on personal finance.

mb said:

Both the Vanguard Die-Hards site and Bob Brinker's web site have pretty good recommended reading lists.

I think that it was Bernstein that recommended reading about market history, speculative booms, etc to give you a perspective for when Dot-com type situations come along.  I suspect that is particularly worth while if you want to try to actively manage you investments and beat the market versus a more passive asset allocation/index funds approach.

I'm currently reading Devil Take the Hindmost and it is recommeded on the Die-Hards site.

MB

Click to expand...

I think this came from the die-hards site:

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

Any reviews on this one??

My choices would be -

The Wealthy Barber by Chilton
Four Pillars of Investing by Bernstein (efficentfrontier.com)
Commonsense on Mutual Funds by Bogle (vanguard.com, related sites)
JK Lassers Your Winning Retirement by Hebeler (analyzenow.com)

plus

Intelligent Investor by Graham

mb said:

I think that it was Bernstein that recommended reading about market history, speculative booms, etc to give you a perspective for when Dot-com type situations come along. I suspect that is particularly worth while if you want to try to actively manage you investments and beat the market versus a more passive asset allocation/index funds approach.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Reading history of market inanity would be the next best thing to living through it (and probably costs less!) I lived in Japan during the bubble there, and the sheer craziness for a newcomer kept me out of it. I was also there when the bubble popped. Much weeping and gnashing of teeth,,,

When the dotcom bubble came along here a few years later, my Japanese experience let me be very confident about what to do (create and sell equity as opposed to buying it).

By now I think a generation who have lived through the dotcom crash will have a hard time getting suckered into the next stock bubble, but maybe I am too optimistic...

ESRBob,

Not a chance.

"It's different this time!"

El Gitano

PsyopRanger said:

I think this came from the die-hards site:

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

Any reviews on this one??

Click to expand...

I read it a month ago. The book serves as a good guide of how to invest and save money for long term growth. LBYM, Investment costs matter, taxes, portfolio asset allocation basics/diversification, simplifying investing. I would recommend it to someone who is getting started in investing and would like to learn more. It is written more for a novice or beginner investor (they explain things well). I enjoyed it though and didn't feel like it was condescending towards me (as an "intermediate" level investor ). Each chapter is very short and concise with a paragraph or two of "recap" at the end of each chapter to drive home the main points of the chapter.

The writing style is a little lighter and more entertaining than what you would expect from a book on investing.

I have been looking for a good book on investing to recommend to others who are at the "beginner" or non-investor stages. This book is it. It doesn't focus on early retirement investing as much as some of the other books I have read, therefore it is more appropriate as a general educational book on investing for the "unenlightened" (those who want to work till 65, but invest along the way).

This would be a good book to buy as a christmas gift for recent college grads who you want to let in on the secret of investing in an accessible manner.

PsyopRanger, this might be a good book for you to read if you haven't read much on the subject of index fund investing, pitfalls of actively managed funds, low cost investing, etc. Parts of the book may be overly simplistic (ie - to save money, spend less than you earn (duh!)). It is a quick read. If you like the book and the style of investing presented, then there are a number of more detailed follow-up books that will present the investing style in more detail (common sense on mutual funds, 4 pillars, intelligent asset allocator).

Table of contents:
Choose a Sound Financial Lifestyle
Start Early and Invest Regularly
Know What You're Buying: Part One
Know What You're Buying: Part Two
Preserve Your Buying Power with Inflation-Protected Bonds
How Much Do You Need to Save?
Keep It Simple
Asset Allocation
Costs Matter
Taxes: Part One
Taxes: Part Two
Diversification
Performance Chasing and Market Timing Are Hazardous to Your Wealth
Savvy Ways to Invest for College
How to Manage a Windfall Successfully
Do You Need an Advisor?
Track Your Progress and Rebalance When Necessary
Tune Out the "Noise"
Mastering Your Investments Means Mastering Your Emotions
Making Your Money Last Longer Than You Do
Protect Your Assets by Being Well-Insured
Passing It On When You Pass On
You Can Do It

I searched this website forum for Brinker and your posting is one of the few I could easily find. I am 57 as well...Brinker fan for over a decade...I use the On Demand feature to listen to his programs,usually tune out Flanagan,but am very conservative and presently 50% SPY@123 and 50% Prime MM...I have earned a Phd listening to this guy and plan to continue until he signs off....do know of any regular Brinker online? forums?

Another book I would recommend is "Tightwad Gazette"
some of the ideas are absolutely crazy, but the principles she puts forward would be helpful in anyone trying to live below their means and save for retirement. There are many helpful ideas in the book, such as calculating how much is costs to cook from scratch vs. prepared vs. eating out.

That being said, I had no motivation to make my kids halloween costumes out of dryer lint or use bread wrappers for rubber pants for my babies, but as I said before the basic principles of not wasting money and use it up or wear it out philosophy are an interesting read.

Along the way, when you are slogging through books like the four pillars I would also recommend "The Good life" by the Nearings. They lived simply and worked hard at labors of love as opposed to wages for useless objects that end up in the landfill.

It isn't all about money, it is about living too.

Hmmm

Had the Nearing book for over thirty years - every x years blow the dust off and reread sections.

heh heh heh