Looking to beat the market—or just get in it? The following financial experts recommend books on smart investing—from how to research stocks and mutual funds to ways to save for retirement.
Burton G. Malkiel
Economics Professor and Author
Burton G. Malkiel is Chemical Bank Chairman’s Professor of Economics at Princeton University. He is a finance specialist who has authored nine books and well over 100 articles. His best known books include A Random Walk Down Wall Street, now in its 9th edition. He has served as director of a large mutual fund complex, The Vanguard Group of Investment Companies, and chair of the Investment Committee for a large insurance company, Prudential Financial.
Bogle on Mutual Funds
New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
John C. Bogle (1994)
Bogle shows investors how to be wise in selecting the best mutual funds.
Winning the Loser’s Game
Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing
Charles D. Ellis (4th ed., 2002)
Ellis reveals how many investors beat themselves in the stock market game and what you can do to be on the winning side.
Stocks for the Long Run
Jeremy J. Siegel (3rd ed., 2002)
Siegel, a professor of finance, illustrates why equities need to represent the best asset class for long-term investors.
Jane Bryant Quinn
Financial Columnist
Jane Bryant writes a biweekly column for Newsweek magazine and a bimonthly column for Good Housekeeping. Her new book, Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, collects her best ideas in all areas of personal finance, including the smartest way to invest retirement funds.
Unconventional Success
A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
David F. Swensen (2005)
You can’t beat this book on mutual funds. It tells you how most fund managers really make their money—by charging you too much!—and how it sandbags your returns. Swensen, a legendary investor, makes billions of dollars for Yale University by running its endowment. His savvy advice for individuals peels away all the Wall Street hype and leads you to the best, low-cost funds that spell success.
Winning the Loser’s Game
Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing
Charles D. Ellis (4th ed., 2002)
Most investment books claim they can tell you how to beat the market. What I love about Ellis is that he tells you—truthfully—that almost nobody does over the long run. That’s not even a useful goal. Ellis, a leading thinker about the market, explains the principles that underlie good investing. If you get the principles right, you’ll get your investments right, too.
The Future for Investors
Why the Tried and the True Triumphs Over the Bold and the New
Jeremy J. Siegel (2005)
f you want to buy and hold individual stocks, this book should be your bible. Siegel, a finance professor, wrote the influential book Stocks for the Long Run. Here he shows how growth investing can become a trap because technology changes so fast. Over time, the best returns have come from companies that market tried-and-true products and pay dividends. Completely counterintuitive.
Virginia B. Morris
Editor and Author
Virginia B. Morris is Editorial Director of Lightbulb Press and the author of more than a dozen books on investing, personal finance, and retirement planning. Her most recent publications include A Woman’s Guide to Investing (3rd ed., 2005), and a new series in collaboration with Standard & Poor’s.
The Intelligent Investor
A Book of Practical Counsel
Benjamin Graham (1949; 4th ed., 2005)
Anyone who thinks seriously about investing should read this classic analysis, which has been in print for more than 50 years. While it’s probably not the best choice for a new investor, Graham’s brilliant work lays the foundation of value investing. His counsel—consider the intrinsic worth of a stock before you buy—still rings true.
The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need
Andrew Tobias (1978; 2005)
I can recommend this book for many reasons: Tobias provides solid, practical information in a highly readable, often highly entertaining way without ever promising you’ll be a millionaire or insisting that being rich is something you deserve. In fact, the title may be truer than Tobias anticipated when he published the first edition in the 1970s, a decade during which investors learned some hard lessons.
Standard & Poor’s Guide to Money & Investing
Virginia B. Morris and Kenneth M. Morris (2005)
Our guide, with its distinctive integration of clear language and engaging graphics, has two goals—first, to introduce new investors to the essential things they need to know to make informed investment decisions. The second goal is to serve as a reference for concise and cogent explanations of investing concepts that all investors need
Lynn O’Shaughnessy
Lynn O’Shaughnessy is a syndicated financial columnist and the author of Retirement Bible and Investing Bible. She has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, Mutual Funds Magazine, and Bloomberg Personal Finance Magazine.
The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need
Larry Swedroe (2005)
This is an excellent primer on why many sophisticated investors use index mutual funds exclusively. The book explains why indexing is the best approach to investing. Just as important, the book tells readers how to build a diversified portfolio of stock and bond mutual funds and provides many helpful examples.