What one book?

[easysurfer]

"Making The Most of Your Money" by Jane Bryant Quinn. 1990's publication.

The most important thing I learned from this book is that no one should care more about looking out for you money than yourself. In otherwords, the so-called "experts" just because they have a title, aren't always looking in your best interests.

The second most important thing I learned is to not chase performance. Index investing is a way to play the market without playing the market.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg In my case it was an event and not a book . I was 32 recently divorced with two children and that made me realize I had to figure out the future . After that revelation I read every book I could on the subject including ( don't laugh) Suze Orman .

I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac.

Ha

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac. Ha

Powerful women are often objects of dislike........perhaps because they intimidate some men people!

[freebird5825]

I read "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" by John Bogle, when I was a greenhorn relatively new investor.

Amazon.com: Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor (9780471295433): John C. Bogle: Books

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Powerful women are often objects of dislike........perhaps because they intimidate some men people!

Yes; I like tall women too. Not exclusively mind you, but if I see some 6'2'' woman at a dance, I always dance with her. (I'm 5-10)

Ha

[DeborahB]

I think I'd go with "Your Money or Your Life". When I first read it you could get 7% on a CD and that's what they said to do for cash. Obviously not possible now. They revised the book fairly recently.

I haven't really made a study of these books though.

[DeborahB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac. Ha

Well... I'm female, she doesn't intimidate me at all, but I find her simple and boring. She's not misleading, but from my encounters with her programs, she isn't pushing a sophisticated type of investing, more of a safe one.

I'm 5'2.5" (I shrank! from 5'3") and I intimidate the hell out of men... it's an interesting phenomenon and has nothing to do with height, obviously...

[Purron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 I'm 5'2.5" (I shrank! from 5'3") and I intimidate the hell out of men... it's an interesting phenomenon and has nothing to do with height, obviously...

You go girl.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 I'm 5'2.5" (I shrank! from 5'3") and I intimidate the hell out of men... it's an interesting phenomenon and has nothing to do with height, obviously...

I'm 5'4" and I have discovered that I am considered quite intimidating to a lot of people.

I am woman, hear me roar!

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac. Ha

To me it's the "volume", i.e. her forceful speaking style. I watched her on PBS many moons ago and turned the show off after 15 minutes. I am no shrinking violet myself, but her style was a real mood killer.

I'm 5'7" and I know people find me intimidating. I speak moderately and am often quiet (in listening and observing mode). I avoid drama like I avoid eating liver.
I figured it out a long time ago...people often "mistrust" a person with a good center of gravity.

[NW-Bound]

I am sure I do not read as many books on investing as many of you here, but want to share the ones that I enjoyed.

It is difficult to say which book was most important to me, because I learned something from each of them, even if the authors have different philosophies.

One of the first books I read was by Tobias. I do not remember if he described a cookbook approach to investing like some others, but the messages that I got loud and clear were to be frugal and to be very, very suspicious of getting-rich-quick schemes. I later read Malkiel's Random Walk in 1999, and it partially saved me from getting ruined by the 2000 tech stock meltdown.

Only after coming to this forum that I learned about Bernstein's books. I then remembered that this MD turned investor guru was "discovered' by Bob Parker back in the late 90s, when the latter was a columnist of Business Week. I only recently borrowed Bernstein's books from the library to read, but then I already knew of his investment principles from other sources.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Can I add one? Way back when, over 20 years ago, I didn't own any equities, I read the 7th edition of a classic called How to Buy Stocks, by Louis Engel and Brendan Boyd. It was first published in 1953 and when I bought the 1982 Bantam edition had already had over 6 million copies printed. Basic, but got me interested. How do I know all these details? It's still on my bookshelf.

I just pulled my copy of How to Buy Stocks off the shelf to look. Yes, mine is also the 7th edition.

One of the books I picked up by chance from a used bookstore is The Battle for Investment Survival by Gerald Loeb (1899-1974). Loeb was a founding partner of the former E.F. Hutton brokerage house. Remember the TV ad "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen"?

The Battle for Investment Survival was first published in 1935, then updated through many editions. Mine was 1965, and I think the latest one was 1971.

Loeb's investing style was that of a trader, and in a way his thinking was somewhat like Nassim Taleb's, the author of the Black Swan books. Loeb said it would be far better to stay safe, and to wait to buy stocks only when they were dirt cheap. He said that if one was patient, over a long time, he could have a decent overall return, yet committed or risked only a small portion of his stash. If I remember correctly, he also warned that when buying dividend-paying stocks, one should be aware of the hazard of dying companies. He liked to buy stocks cheap, and to rely on capital gain. Nowadays, that's dirty market timing and a big no no!

I guess Loeb's book fell out of fashion because he did not offer a mechanical method to invest. He simply said that it was tough, and more like an art which one had to practice to master it.

Of course, I don't invest exactly the way Loeb described, but I like his book nevertheless. I greatly enjoyed the philosophical musings of a man who had lived through the Great Depression himself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh I'm 5'4" and I have discovered that I am considered quite intimidating to a lot of people. I am woman, hear me roar!

Nearly every woman intimidates me! I amaze myself that I even had the audacity to marry one.

[DblDoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac. Ha

I think people take exception to her investment advice not so much her personal finance stuff.

DD

[traineeinvestor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound One of the books I picked up by chance from a used bookstore is The Battle for Investment Survival by Gerald Loeb (1899-1974). Loeb was a founding partner of the former E.F. Hutton brokerage house. Remember the TV ad "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen"? The Battle for Investment Survival was first published in 1935, then updated through many editions. Mine was 1965, and I think the latest one was 1971. Loeb's investing style was that of a trader, and in a way his thinking was somewhat like Nassim Taleb's, the author of the Black Swan books. Loeb said it would be far better to stay safe, and to wait to buy stocks only when they were dirt cheap. He said that if one was patient, over a long time, he could have a decent overall return, yet committed or risked only a small portion of his stash. If I remember correctly, he also warned that when buying dividend-paying stocks, one should be aware of the hazard of dying companies. He liked to buy stocks cheap, and to rely on capital gain. Nowadays, that's dirty market timing and a big no no! I guess Loeb's book fell out of fashion because he did not offer a mechanical method to invest. He simply said that it was tough, and more like an art which one had to practice to master it. Of course, I don't invest exactly the way Loeb described, but I like his book nevertheless. I greatly enjoyed the philosophical musings of a man who had lived through the Great Depression himself.

I still have my copy of Loeb's book. The thing I like most about it is that it avoids any kind of mechanical approach. The absence of catchy sound bite investment slogans also appealed to me. Although (IIRC - it's been a few years since I last looked at it) he does not say as much, I suspect Loeb' view was that there was no risk free way to invest in the stock market.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by traineeinvestor I still have my copy of Loeb's book. The thing I like most about it is that it avoids any kind of mechanical approach. The absence of catchy sound bite investment slogans also appealed to me. Although (IIRC - it's been a few years since I last looked at it) he does not say as much, I suspect Loeb' view was that there was no risk free way to invest in the stock market.

I don't know when this book was first published, but as I remember I already had a copy in university >40 years ago. Agree that it is a good book, but of course it is very non-Investment_PC and Bogleishus. I bought a copy of the Intelligent Investor about the same time. Quite a contrast, and I have made more out of the Ben Graham stuff than Gerald Loeb, as it is a better fit with my personality.

Loeb's title does make it clear that surviving is not a done deal when you put money at risk, notwithsatnding the happytalk we have heard over the past 15 years or so.

Ha

[NW-Bound]

Yes, Loeb's approach is very contrary to today's accepted philosophy. I am glad that someone else here knows of this book. Again, I did not practice exactly what Loeb described, else might miss out on the great bull run of 1990-2000 while standing on the sideline. Well, in fact I only read it around the early 2000. As mentioned, I enjoyed the book for other aspects.

But here's something else. When I discovered this forum and saw that so many people talked of the presently popular books, I did a search on this forum to see if anyone else mentioned it.

And you know what? I only saw Uncle Mick making a mention of it. Yes, Uncle Mick! Heh heh heh...

[Sue J]

"Millionaire Next Door" is one of them. Turns out I know a few just like that. Another is Bankruptcy 1995 which got me thinking and listening outside my own little world.

[TomG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I can never understand the dislike of Suze Orman. She is smart, she doesn't mislead, and she writes very clearly. Not only that, unlike most male pf gurus she is not an egomaniac. Ha

She made herself extremely wealthy telling people things they should already know. I've seen her show a few times and she didn't say anything about how to follow that path

[Enuff2Eat]

i just have to pick two RICH DAD POOR DAD & MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR. Both taught me to be frugal, and invest well. Buy bargain assets NOT bargains consumers products.

[knucklehead 61]

The Snowball: Warren Buffet & the business of life.
an awe inspiring book about a truly amazing man.
it makes me think how much better off i would be today (i am 44) if i had the ability to read this book 25 years ago.
i will never look at a dollar bill & see only a dollar ever again...it can be more...much more if you build your snowball right.

[Helen]

Not an investment book, but I have a copy of "Hetty Green the Witch of Wall Street". copyright 1930.

It is a very interesting read.