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Books (--> Wiki)

Post by gbs »

An expanded version of this page can be found on The Bogleheads Wiki.


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.

Please see Taylor Larimore's Investment Gems on the Bogleheads Wiki.

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

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Last edited by gbs on Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:13 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Recommended Reading

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contributed by: Simba
Last edited by gbs on Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:57 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Reading List

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Post by gbs »

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Investing Terminology

Post by gbs »

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

contributed by: kcyahoo
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Re: Reading List

Post by CyberBob »

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
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Post by LocalHero »

Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People
by: Jane Bryant Quinn
I've learned that managing money ought to be simple -- and can be, as long as you get the principles right. In the money world, 'simple' turns out to be sophisticated. The strategies here are based on sound principles and common sense. They set you free so that you can get on with all the things that matter more.
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Post by xenial »

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
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Post by orthros »

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

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
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Post by Paul Douglas Boyer »

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!
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Post by Barry Barnitz »

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.

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Additional administrative tasks: Financial Page bogleheads.org. blog; finiki the Canadian wiki; The Bogle Center for Financial Literacy site; La Guía Bogleheads® España site.
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Post by orthros »

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

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

[edit:consistent formatting-Barry]
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Re: Recommended Reading

Post by RetiredInNH »

This excellent book now has a sequel: Capital Ideas Evolving. There are good quotes from it in this thread in the Investing and Personal Finance forum, and brief discussion in this thread.

[edit: for consistent formatting-Barry]
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Vanguard Summer 2007 Reading List

Post by SuperDaveJ »

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
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Recommended Reading

Post by historydavid »

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.
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Post by runthetrails »

Wise Investing Made Simple, by Larry Swedroe
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Post by MrWinky »

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
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Investment Books

Post by LHerr »

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/
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Pension Plans

Post by mickeyd »

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
Part-Owner of Texas | | “The CMH-the Cost Matters Hypothesis -is all that is needed to explain why indexing must and will work… Yes, it is that simple.” John C. Bogle
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Mandelbrot: The Misbehavior of Markets

Post by curiousmom »

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.
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Post by Ricard »

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.
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A book about how the fed operates

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Post by Stonebr »

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
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Post by Druish »

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!
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Craigslist of books ?

Post by Taylor Larimore »

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:
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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Post by White Coat Investor »

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
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Post by Christine_NM »

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.
16% cash 49% stock 35% bond. Retired, w/d rate 2.5%
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Post by jasonc »

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.
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Post by JimC1004 »

I have been doing a self study course on investing for the past couple years and have read many of the books suggested above, which have been a great help - and timely, too.

Does anyone have any recommendations on books to read about bonds
other than the Larry Swedroe book already mentioned? That seems to be a subject that is given less priority, but one which may be very important for our future success in many ways. Thank you.
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Post by sschullo »

JimC1004 wrote:I have been doing a self study course on investing for the past couple years and have read many of the books suggested above, which have been a great help - and timely, too.

Does anyone have any recommendations on books to read about bonds
other than the Larry Swedroe book already mentioned? That seems to be a subject that is given less priority, but one which may be very important for our future success in many ways. Thank you.
http://www.amazon.com/Investing-Dummies ... convert-20
Never in the history of market day-traders’ has the obsession with so much massive, sophisticated, & powerful statistical machinery used by the brightest people on earth with such useless results.
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Post by sschullo »

Christine_NM wrote: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.
Christine,
I tend to agree, except that there are really no elementary level investment books. There is a theme about money in Open Court in the 3rd grade, but it is nothing about investments.

All of the books listed on Craig's list are for later high school and above. Even then, we all have experienced adults rolling their eyes about reading anything about investments.

Heck, William Bernstein said that his first book, The Intelligent Asset Allocator was too difficult as reported by many people. And the main reason why he wrote his second book, the four pillars.

I think its very safe to say that almost all investment books reading levels are for adults.
Never in the history of market day-traders’ has the obsession with so much massive, sophisticated, & powerful statistical machinery used by the brightest people on earth with such useless results.
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Post by CyberBob »

JimC1004 wrote:Does anyone have any recommendations on books to read about bonds other than the Larry Swedroe book already mentioned?
The Bond Book by Annette Thau.

Bob
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Post by borosp »

A very good book on dividend investing is:

The Single Best Investment: Creating Wealth with Dividend Growth
By: Lowell Miller (Author)
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Re: Craigslist of books ?

Post by chaz »

Taylor Larimore wrote: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:

Also missing: The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, by William Bernstein
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
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Post by Fallible »

These lists are great - I can see I've got lots more reading to do.

A few more good ones (newish and not so new but always relevant):

"The Little Book of Main Street Money," by Jonathan Clements

"The Future for Investors," by Jeremy J. Siegel

"Master Your Money Type," by Jordan E. Goodman

"Irrational Exuberance," by Robert J. Shiller
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Books

Post by Julio A. »

Anny tought on "The Black Swan" I have read a few reviews and souns interesting as general knowlege and a diferent edge, bu is it a good book and can it realy help you to gain a diferent perpective... or is it something that it would do exactly the opposite.

in the end is it a good book to read???
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Post by Noobvestor »

Wondering if it might be worth putting up full book lists for major 'Boglehead-liked' authors (e.g. Swedroe) with small blurbs about each. I found myself hard-pressed to find a good simple summary without clicking through a bunch of Amazon links to cross-compare everything. Just a thought - and something I'd be happy to work on if it doesn't seem redundant.
"In the absence of clarity, diversification is the only logical strategy" -= Larry Swedroe
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Post by Ice-9 »

noobvester wrote:Wondering if it might be worth putting up full book lists for major 'Boglehead-liked' authors (e.g. Swedroe) with small blurbs about each. I found myself hard-pressed to find a good simple summary without clicking through a bunch of Amazon links to cross-compare everything. Just a thought - and something I'd be happy to work on if it doesn't seem redundant.
Excellent idea! I too would be happy to contribute blurbs for the many finance books in this thread which I've read.
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Post by Taylor Larimore »

Ice-9 wrote:
noobvester wrote:Wondering if it might be worth putting up full book lists for major 'Boglehead-liked' authors (e.g. Swedroe) with small blurbs about each. I found myself hard-pressed to find a good simple summary without clicking through a bunch of Amazon links to cross-compare everything. Just a thought - and something I'd be happy to work on if it doesn't seem redundant.
Excellent idea! I too would be happy to contribute blurbs for the many finance books in this thread which I've read.
Ice and noobvester:

Want you want has already been done here:

Investment Gems

Happy Holiday!
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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Post by CyberBob »

Taylor Larimore wrote:
Ice-9 wrote:
noobvester wrote:Wondering if it might be worth putting up full book lists for major 'Boglehead-liked' authors (e.g. Swedroe) with small blurbs about each. I found myself hard-pressed to find a good simple summary without clicking through a bunch of Amazon links to cross-compare everything. Just a thought - and something I'd be happy to work on if it doesn't seem redundant.
Excellent idea! I too would be happy to contribute blurbs for the many finance books in this thread which I've read.
Ice and noobvester:

Want you want has already been done here:

Investment Gems

Happy Holiday!
And if you want to write something more than a blurb, don't forget the Book Review pages.

Bob
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Re: Books

Post by caseynshan »

Julio A. wrote:Anny tought on "The Black Swan" I have read a few reviews and souns interesting as general knowlege and a diferent edge, bu is it a good book and can it realy help you to gain a diferent perpective... or is it something that it would do exactly the opposite.

in the end is it a good book to read???
I loved Taleb's Fooled by Randomness. Excellent Work. I've heard Black Swan is a less Technical more story form/ conclusion oriented version of Fooled by Randomness
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