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Summary: Investment Philosophy
Review: For the beginning and intermediate investor that wants to really learn about investing, not chasin g returns. This book teaches all about investing with a philosophy, or what we all need, which is an investing plan. By the way, you can get a free book in a schwab office
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Summary: "Fire and forget" method for investing
Review: If you want to secure your financial future with minimum hassle, don't want to become a stock-market expert, or spend any more time and money on the Wall Street stuff than is absolutely necessary, then this is the book for you. It tells you a very simple, but extremely efficient method for investing your money. It also tells you why and how to do it.It does not cover everything there is to investing, hey it doesn't even cover 10% about it. But it covers enough to have a "fire and forget" way with investments. You can trust that the money you invest with this advice will keep up with the better half of the smart investors. And you can go on living and enjoying your life without too many financial worries. An excellent book for the target audience.
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Summary: Simple but utmost efficient
Review: Oh,My God, This book explains everything in so simple way. What matters finally is how simple and efficient a system is and this book just focusses on these two points. -Sreeni
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Summary: A superb introduction to investing
Review: Schwab, of discount brokerage fame, has written an easy to read introductory guide to savings and investment. None of his material is unique or new - it is similar to that presented by Suzie Orman and the Dummies guides. Nonetheless, Schwab's book is probably better for new investors because he uses plenty of charts, graphs and personal examples, and presents it all in a very user-friendly format. The theme is basically not to jump in with both feet, but to do as much as you can. There are a few gratuitous plugs for his brokerage firm, but the book is definitely not one big advertisement. This book is well recommended for first-time investors and recent college graduates about to start their first job (good graduation gift). It is not recommended for people who are already in the stock market or who already own mutual funds and regularly invest - you already know what is in this book.
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Summary: A superb introduction to investing
Review: Schwab, of discount brokerage fame, has written an easy to read introductory guide to savings and investment. None of his material is unique or new - it is similar to that presented by Suzie Orman and the Dummies guides. Nonetheless, Schwab's book is probably better for new investors because he uses plenty of charts, graphs and personal examples, and presents it all in a very user-friendly format. The theme is basically not to jump in with both feet, but to do as much as you can. There are a few gratuitous plugs for his brokerage firm, but the book is definitely not one big advertisement. This book is well recommended for first-time investors and recent college graduates about to start their first job (good graduation gift). It is not recommended for people who are already in the stock market or who already own mutual funds and regularly invest - you already know what is in this book.
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Summary: Great investment guide for new but serious investors
Review: The book which is just over 200 pages long reads remarkably fast given the material involved. I think one of the best aspects of the book are a few questionairs which help your identify your tollerance for risk; your goals; how long it will take to achieve them; and where in general you need to invest in order obtain your goals. Alot of good advice and "common sense" is imparted within the first 120 pages. The last fourth of the book seems to lose direction talking about investment clubs and reasons to invest etc. Overall I liked the book very much and would highly recomend it for the neophyte investor.
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Summary: It is very well-written. Everyone must read it.
Review: This bollk is a must-read. I recommend it to everyone. It is very informative.
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Summary: A Simple Introduction to Investing in Financial Assets
Review: This book is an almost ideal introduction for the person who doesn't want to think very much about investments, but would like do better than with a certificate of deposit in a bank. The book favors financial assets (not too surprising, given that Mr. Schwab's company is the leading discount broker), but he offers a number of time- and trouble-saving reasons for that. The book is supported by a number of quantitative analyses, questionnaires, model portfolios, and personal examples from Mr. and Mrs. Schwab's experience. The book is well written and clear. The book is in three major parts. In part one, he argues in favor of why the growth potential of stocks gives them long-term advantages over many other asset classes, and takes you into setting your goals. In part two, he explores which types of investments will work best for what you want to accomplish. Using your goals, he helps you adapt the assets you buy to fit your circumstances. In part three, he describes how to get started and maintain your strategy. The best part of the book comes in the way it uses questionnaires to help you develop your financial goals, risk preferences, and financial time frame. Then the book gives you financial portfolios (based on historical studies described in Stocks for the Long Run) to match up with your situation. You could easily spend quite a bit of money with a financial advisor to do this for you without getting a much different result. I also liked the way the book directly takes on the problem of market fluctuations and the emotional tendency to buy high and sell low into account. For those with shorter timeframes and lower risk tolerances, Mr. Schwab recommends buffering the fluctuations by having an asset allocation into less volatile securities (although those that will earn lower returns). But still, the book could use more advice on how to overcome emotion. Telling you to "learn to keep a tight rein on your emotions" will not be enough for many people. This problem will be compounded by Mr. Schwab's insistence that "timing is a very minor player in the larger scheme of investing." Tell yourself that if you had just bought a lot of technology and dot com stocks in March 2000 and held them until now. I think that timing (even if you are going to buy and hold indexed mutual funds -- something that is highly recommended here) is important. If you buy into an index (or stocks or other financial assets) at a relatively low price, you will spend less time being upset about the volatility of your investment. Since the average asset class is highly volatile on an annual basis, you can at least try to get in near the low of the last 12 months. That will have a big impact on your psychology as you get started. As Mr. Schwab points out, the biggest mistake is not investing at all. Concern about lack of time and feeling intimidated about making a mistake keep people from getting started. Setbacks cause people to retreat from investing. He encourages a minimum five-year buy-and-hold period to allow growth to bail out any near-term losses. I think that Mr. Schwab writes off investing in your own business or in real estate much too quickly. My suggestion is that you read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to get the opposite point of view on those investment classes. For a better look at using indexed mutual funds, I recommend John Bogle's Common Sense About Mutual Funds, which is more thorough than this book. You may decide to avoid picking individual stocks when you know more about the track record of trying to find mutual fund managers and stocks that outperform the indices. A good lesson from this book is that we must pay attention to important subjects, or face the consequences. Where else in your life are you paying too little attention? How can you get the information to overcome your stalled thinking and behavior? May your life be filled with riches from the attention you place on making good decisions!
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Summary: Best Choice for anyone under 30 and not too wealthy
Review: This book offers a very simple way to secure your financial future. The methods span the whole lifespan, but if you're already over 30, I'd suggest you go elsewhere. If you're under 30 and don't want to immerse yourself in the Wall Street periphernalia, this is the one!
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Summary: A simple book for new investors - there are much better.
Review: This book was written for beginners. Better choices for beginners would be 'The Motley Fool Investment Guide' or Peter Lynch's 'One Up On Wall Street'. Charles does a nice job of giving an overview of investing, but pushes the utility of managed mutual funds too far.
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