Only Investment Guide

 (full title: The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Manage Your Money In Today's Economy) is an easy to read book that gives a good overview of personal finance and investment topics. The review below applies to the 2005 revision.

About the author
Andrew Tobias is the author of Fire and Ice, Money Angles and numerous other personal finance books, and contributing editor of New York Magazine.

Part One: Minimal Risk
Chapter 1: If I'm So Smart, How Come This Book Won't Make You Rich?

Chapter 2: A Penny Saved Is Two Pennies Earned

Chapter 3: You CAN Get By on $165,000 a Year

Chapter 4: Trust No One

Chapter 5: The Case for Cowardice

Chapter 6: Tax Strategies

Part Two: The Stock Market
Chapter 7: Meanwhile, Down at the Track

Chapter 8: Choosing (to Ignore) Your Broker

Chapter 9: Hot Tips, Inside Information -- and Other Fine Points

Chapter 10: What to Do If You Inherit a Million Dollars; What to Do Otherwise

Appendices
Earning 177% on Bordeaux

How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?

How Much Social Security Will You Get?

A Few Words about the Budget and Our National Debt

Cocktail Party Financial Quips to Help You Feel Smug

Selected Discount Brokers

Selected Mutual Funds

Tips for Unmarried Couples

YOU'RE DEAD -- Why Didn't You Read This First?!

Fun with Compound Interest

More Fun with Compound Interest -- Teaching Your Kids to Save and Invest

Still No Sure What to Do?

Book summary
The first few chapters discuss budgeting and general personal finance issues like paying off credit card debt and living within your means. Chapter 5 covers Bills, Bonds and Preferred Stock. Chapter 6 gives an overview of educational plans, 401(k) and IRAs, annuities, gifting of stock to charity. Chapter 7 and 8 covers stocks, bull and bear markets, diversification, managed vs. passive funds, costs. Chapter 9 covers specialized topics like DRIPS, short selling, IPOs, margin and leverage, options etc. Chapter 10 discusses how you might invest a windfall, and goes into some detail about open- and closed-end funds and ETFs.

mikenz
This book is funny, sensible, and easy to read. Would make a great first investment book. Probably not as practical as the Bogleheads' Guide, but a very easy read. The book covers a lot of topics like margin, options, short selling, penny stocks, mainly to make the point to avoid them, where the Bogleheads' Guide instead goes into more depth on practical topics. The Only Investment Guide in my opinion, spends a LOT of energy discussing what NOT do to, where the Bogleheads' Guide takes passive investing almost as a given, and takes it from there. So if you're already "converted" stick with Bogleheads' Guide, but if you want a fun read, give the Only Investment Guide a chance.