Bogleheads

gbs · Librarian Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 558

[contributions needed]

Note: It might be a good idea to check them out first at your local library and then buy the ones that you would like to have.

Taylor Larimore, one of the highly respected founders of the Morningstar Diehard Forum, and one of the co-authors of the The Bogleheads' Guide To Investing has a wonderful post that contains excerpts from many of the books referenced in this section of the Library. They serve to capture the essence of the texts.

Collection of Investment Gems

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. (the gems)

If you are new to the world of investing, the short list of books provided by diehards.org. is a good place to start:

Investing Books

Return to the Table of Contents

gbs · Librarian Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 558

contributed by: Simba

Jaction · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Manassas, Virginia

Live It Up without Outliving Your Money! by: Paul Merriman

gbs · Librarian Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 558

Extraordinary Popular Delusions & The Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay .

contributed by: orthros

gbs · Librarian Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 558

Investing Terminology Reference...
Wall Street Words: An Essential A to Z Guide for Today's Investor
by: David L. Scott

contributed by: kcyahoo

MattBrennan · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: Northeast

Protecting Your Wealth In Good Times And Bad by Rick Ferri

simba · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 453

Rational Investing in Irrational Times: How to Avoid the Costly Mistakes Even Smart People Make Today - Larry Swedroe
What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know: How You Can Build Real Wealth Investing in Index Funds - Larry Swedroe

CyberBob · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 2042 Location: /home/bob

Interesting discussion on different withdrawal strategies:
Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably! - Ben Stein & Phil DeMuth

A very informative read on asset allocation is:
Asset Allocation - Roger C. Gibson

If you only want to read one finance book in your life and want it to cover many topics but not be too technical:
Making the Most of Your Money - Jane Bryant Quinn

simba · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 453

Free Online Book - Investment Philosophies - Aswath Damodaran

MattBrennan · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: Northeast

- Mutual Funds for Dummies by Eric Tyson

LocalHero · Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Iowa

Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People
by: Jane Bryant Quinn

DRiP Guy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1287

Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Investing - by Kenneth M. Morris

No-Load Stocks: How to Buy Your First Share & Every Share Directly from the Company--With No Broker's Fee
- by Charles B. Carlson
How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers -by John A. Tracy CPA

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor - by Ernie J. Zelinski

How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle - by Charles Long

Principles of Corporate Finance - by Brealey, Myers , Allen

Learn to Earn: A Beginner's Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business - by Peter Lynch, John Rothchild

Ken Schwartz · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2254 Location: USA

Examination of Behavioral Issues

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market by John Allen Paulos

orthros · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:44 am Post subject:

Innumeracy
by John Allen Paulos (more general than investing-centric but very topical).

Joe_Investor_1954 · Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Posts: 2

Best introductory book on index fund investing:
Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pros

microlepis · Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 80 Location: Forum Purgatory

Great introduction to behavioral finance and the idea that markets are macro-inefficient:
"Irrational Exuberance" second edition by Robert Shiller

Attempts to develop a specific system to exploit macro-inefficiencies in markets and explain in detail various issues relating to the idea that equity valuations return to the mean:
"Valuing Wall Street: Protecting Wealth in Turbulent Markets", by Smithers & Wright
"Yes, You Can Time the Market", by Stein & DeMuth

Dr. Jim

shadowrings · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:30 am Post subject:

Complete Idiot's Books these listed are generally all decent introductory books. (Though I haven't seen the 401k one yet.)

Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens
Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s
Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 40s & 50s
Complete Idiot's Guide to 401(k) Plans

Paul Douglas Boyer · Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Posts: 71 Location: Leesburg, VA

Index Funds: The 12-Step Program for Active Investors by Mark Hebner

Simple explanations backed up by academic studies on why active investing, stock picking, market timing, and manager picking don't work. Defines Risk Capacity and explains 78 years of stock market risk and return with charts, graphics, and even custom oil paintings. A good Coffee-Table book on investing!

Barry Barnitz · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:25 am Post subject:

The Vanguard Experiment: John Bogle's Quest to Transform the Mutual Fund Industry by Robert Slater. "A biography of the legendary and influential John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group. Tells how he overcame difficulties to rise to fame and how his zeal to transform the mutual fund industry continues to gain momentum." Now out of print but worth looking for in used book shops.

Contributed by Bylo Selhi
_________________

blb
November Birthday Celebration: Aaron Copland

orthros · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:53 am Post subject:

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein

oneleaf · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 1357

Unconventional Success by David Swensen
The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need by Larry Swedroe

[edit:consistent formatting-Barry]

RetiredInNH · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 110

SuperDaveJ · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 18

Books on investing

A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G. Malkiel
Winning the Loser's Game, by Charles D. Ellis
Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need to Know, by Jack Brennan
Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing, by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, by William Bernstein
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing, by Benjamin Graham, updated by Jason Zweig
Wealth of Experience: Real Investors on What Works and What Doesn't, by Andrew S. Clarke, with a foreword by Jack Brennan

Books on retirement and financial planning

Mind Over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness, by Eric Tyson
Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, by Jane Bryant Quinn
The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life, by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., and Daniel J. Kadlec
The Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire? by Terry Savage
How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire, by Stan Hinden
Retirement Bible, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy

historydavid · Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 10

The big investment lie. Subtitle is: What your financial advisor doesn't want you to know

Great book on why you don't need an investmant advisor.

runthetrails · Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Tennessee

Wise Investing Made Simple, by Larry Swedroe

MrWinky · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 47

Jeanne Fleming, Edward Schwarz: Isn't it Their Turn to Pick Up the Check?

Jerrold Mundis: Making Peace with Money

The second was a little too New-Age-ey for me, but both are really helpful if you're trying to work out emotional issues with money

LHerr · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 151 Location: Portland, OR

GBS,

Here is another list. There are many duplications to the lists already supplied. At the bottom of this list are my recommendations in the order I would read the better books. Forget the one and two star books.

https://home.comcast.net/~lowellherr/books.htm

LHerr

http://www.lherr.org/blog/

mickeyd · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 1429 Location: Texas

A well written history of DB plans and a lot of information for folks that have a DB pension plan including future implications and troubling issues.

Pension Dumping~The Reasons The Wreckage The Stakes For Wall Street By Fran Hawthorne
_________________
regards,
mickeyd

In Dire Need of: Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money. (Not necessarily in that order)

curiousmom · Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 14

What about this book:

Benoit Mandelbrot & Richard L. Hudson,
The Misbehavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin, & Reward
(Basic Books 2004)

??

I have not yet read this book, but it looks like it deserves a look by folks here, and I'd be interested to read your opinions.

Ricard · Joined: 20 Apr 2009 Posts: 12

1) Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. I suspect that most readers will find this plenty to satisfy their curiosity on investing. What's most important about this book is Graham's philosophy, encapsulated by his emphasis on the best investments also being the most business-like.

I have the version without Zweig's commentary. It was a short read, barely 200 pages long. Zweig adds another 400 pages of reading better spend on the next book.

2) If people want more Graham, then Security Analysis. This tome starts on bond investing, and why any bond investor would want to seriously consider stocks once they are able to analyze stocks as if they were as safe as bonds - once risk is marginalized, then the concern becomes profit maximization. A massive read, but well worth it - Graham covers all the lingo you'll need to know on Wall Street. I say this because Wall Street will throw at you a lot of lingo that you simply don't need to know. I'd say that upon finishing this book, you've graduated to becoming an amateur investor.

I've read plenty others, but find that none are really worth recommending as much as the above two books. It may amaze some people to find out that much of what was true 80 years ago is still true today...perhaps simply a different shade of gray.

ntsantak · Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 29

I thought this was a great book

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-....amp;sr=8-1

Stonebr · Joined: 21 Jan 2009 Posts: 178

Past performance is the surest guide to future results:

"Only Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis Allen
"Once in Golconda" by John Brooks
"The Go-go Years" by John Brooks
"The Money Game" by Adam Smith
"Supermoney" by Adam Smith
"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre
"The Great Crash" by John K. Galbraith

Druish · Joined: 14 May 2009 Posts: 7

I lifted this list from the Craigslist money forum. It's the standard go-to reading list there. I'm sure there is an original creator who deserves to be cited, but I lost track of where it came from. There are probably a lot of repeats from books mentioned earlier.

They are organized by "grade" level for a complete fundamental education.

Elementary School
Common Sense on Mutual Funds" by John Bogle.
One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein
Value Investing With the Masters, by Kirk Kazanjian
The Davis Dynasty, by John Rothchild
Valuegrowth Investing, by Glen Arnold
Richest Man in Babylon
Boglehead's Guide to Investing
The Automatic Millionaire
Investing for Dummies

Junior High

The 5 Keys to Value Investing, by J. Dennis Jean-Jacques
Beating the Street, by Peter Lynch
Investment Fables, by Aswath Damodaran
The Vest Pocket Guide to Value Investing, by C. Thomas Howard
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Philip Fisher

High School

Made in America, by Sam Walton
Forbes' Greatest Investing Stories, by Richard Phalon
John Neff on Investing, by John Neff
The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham
The Money Masters, by John Train

University

Stocks for the Long Run, by Jeremy Siegel
Quality of Earnings, by Thornton Oglove
Investing in Small-Cap Stocks, by Christopher Graja and Elizabeth Ungar
The Book of Investing Wisdom, by Peter Krass
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius, by Joel Greenblatt

Grad School

Break Up!, by Campbell, Koch & Sadtler
Investment Gurus, by Peter Tanous
Value Investing: A Balanced Approach, by Martin Whitman
Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond, by Bruce Greenwald
The Road to Serfdom, by F.A. Hayek

enjoy!

Taylor Larimore · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:40 pm Post subject: Craigslist of books ?

Hi Druish:

Thank you for the Craigslist of books.

Elementary School children must be a lot smarter than when I went to school. With the possible exception of "Richest Man in Babylon" I can't imagine myself or any of my elementary school classmates reading or understanding the books listed for Elementary School children.

I also note that Burton Malkiel's classic "Random Walk Down Wall Street" is missing at any grade level?

Craig needs to revise his list. Wink

_________________
Best wishes
Taylor

The Majesty of Simplicity

EmergDoc · Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 4938 Location: Home sweet home

Interesting way to make a list. While I agree some books are more difficult to comprehend, does anyone really think elementary school or junior high kids are going to read any of those?
_________________
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy
4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course

Christine_NM · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 638 Location: Albuquerque

Not every adult reads comfortably beyond the elementary-jr high level. I think the list is meant for reading level and for beginner-to-expert progression, not actual age.
_________________
If you want to make God laugh, show Him your IPS.

jasonc · Joined: 04 Nov 2009 Posts: 4

Thank you all for providing such an exhausting list of books. I will definitely buy two or three of them because I am quite new to investing and I am of the opinion it would be a good idea to have to or three of these books. Hopefully they are interesting and easy written.