Only Investment Guide
 | |
| Author | Andrew Tobias |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Harvest Books |
Publication date | Hardcover: February 1978, revised January 2005. Paperback: January 1999, revised January 2011 |
| Pages | 312 pp (Hardcover), 256 pages (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0156029636 (Hardcover), 978-0156005609 (Paperback) |
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.
Table of Contents
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
| "If a monkey can invest as well as a professional, or nearly so, it stands to reason that you can, too. It further stands to reason that, unless you get a kick out of it, you needn't spend a great deal of time reading investment guides, especially long ones." | |
| -- The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, Chapter 1 | |
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.
Readers Comments
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.
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