- Thomas M.
- Tuesday, September 21, 2021
If you want to become an investor, these titles will help you learn the basics, develop a personal plan, and avoid the pitfalls of trying to get your money to work for you. Links will lead to individual print titles in the catalog or electronic copies as indicated.
For starters
If You Can by William J. Bernstein
This short PDF, which only requires 14 pages of reading, breaks down the broad strokes of what any young person needs to know about investing. Advice about good habits, discipline, and common sense all combine for a great introduction to finance. It comes with a reading list for further education, but even on its own this free pamphlet is a great start.
Investor, Know Thyself
Your Money and Your Brain by Jason Zweig
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley (Overdrive ebook)
Learn from others’ mistakes and study others’ successes. The 5 Mistakes Every Investor Makes and Your Money and Your Brain both do an excellent job of explaining how and why your brain will probably betray you once your money is on the line in the market. For example, can you reliably time the market to buy low and sell high? There’s an online game to test that. Get the inside scoop on how you are secretly your own worst enemy so that you can correct bad habits before they start. It’s okay, professional money managers are prone to the same mistakes. Meanwhile, The Millionaire Next Door investigates the habits of millionaires across America and what they share in common.
Simple Mode: basic, set-it-and-forget-it strategies
The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein
The Bogleheads' Guide To Investing by Taylor Larimore (Hoopla audio)
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle (Hoopla audio)
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (Overdrive ebook)
The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam (Overdrive ebook)
These books each make a strong case for a passive investing strategy, meaning one that gets an average but dependable return from the market. While everyone else is chasing hot trends and paying for stock tips, you could be riding through a simple, secure strategy that is time-tested and endures nearly any environment. The strategies outlined in these books are not glamorous, and they will take time, but they perform better than most others. A lot of investment advice books tend to offer variations of the strategies outlined here, including the accessible I Will Teach You To Be Rich and The Millionaire Teacher. There are several other books by John Bogle and Taylor Larimore that reiterate the core passive investment strategy.
Advanced Mode: focused analysis and evaluation
The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelly
Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (Hoopla audio)
One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch (Hoopla audio)
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher
Warren Buffett’s Ground Rules by Jeremy C. Miller (Overdrive ebook)
Investopedia: How To Value A Company
So you want to research and choose stocks and companies for yourself, eh? Roll up your sleeves and get ready to take notes. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing is a good crash course that will familiarize you with the terminology and purpose of all the information you will find when you look up a stock.
The other five books are guides from some of the best investors around. The Intelligent Investor remains a first-rate choice for learning how to pick stocks, and you will often find the names Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, Philip A. Fisher, and Warren Buffett when looking for financial role models. Their ideas and methods may feel like common sense after a while. Consider them a foundation against the get-rich-quick schemes and flashy trends that will tempt you every waking moment as soon as you decide to start your investing path. Investopedia is included as an online reference, though it does have ads.
Please note that the labels read “simple” and “advanced,” not “easy” and “hard.” A passive investing strategy may require greater emotional strength and stoicism than an active strategy because you have to stand back and watch the market rise and fall. Meanwhile, selecting individual companies requires more homework up front but may become second nature or even enjoyable over time. It’s all up to you!
[Disclaimer: I am not a professional in the realm of finance by any means. These recommendations come from frequently endorsed reading lists and exploring the library’s collection. They represent reading recommendations and not an endorsement of any specific investment strategy. While I have read the titles and websites mentioned in this blog post, you must do your own due diligence to determine your personal plan.]