Recommended Reading

The Investment Answer by Dan Goldie and Gordon Murray:
The Investment Answer, almost precisely, encourages the academic method of investing that we have been advocating for years in our practice and in our coaching content. When Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray told his good friend and financial advisor, Dan Goldie, that he had only six months to live, Dan asked, “Do you want to write that book you’ve always wanted to do?” The result is this valuable primer which has advice that benefits you, not Wall Street and the rest of the traditional financial services industry. At a total of 70 pages you could devour it over lunch.

A Random Wald Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel:
Whether you’re considering your first 401k contribution, contemplating retirement, or anywhere in between, A Random Walk Down Wall Street should be the first book on your reading list. In this newest edition of the perennial bestseller Burton G. Malkiel shows how to navigate the turbulence on Wall Street and beat the pros at their own game, giving individual investors the information they need to manage their money with confidence.

In A Random Walk Down Wall Street you will learn the basic terminology of “The Street” and how to navigate it with the help of a user-friendly, long-range investment strategy that really works. Drawing on the latest industry research and his own varied experience as an economist, financial advisor, and successful investor, Malkiel shows why an individual who buys and holds a broad index of securities is likely to exceed a professional who carefully picks a portfolio of securities using sophisticated analytical techniques.

Winning the Losers Game By Charles D. Ellis:

Winning the Loser’s Game is considered by many to be a classic analysis of investing.” The premise of the bestselling Winning the Loser’s Game is that individual investors can achieve far greater success working with financial markets than against them. This premise has grown increasingly popular in today’s hard-to-predict markets. The latest edition of this concise yet comprehensive classic offers updated strategies to leverage the power of time and compounding, protect against down cycles, and more.

Brokerage Fraud by Stoneman & Shultz:

Stoneman, an attorney who specializes in securities cases, and Schulz, a former broker turned securities fraud consultant, have produced a guide to fraud in the securities industry for the individual investor. They describe the common types of misconduct, how to detect fraud, the actions to take, the role of regulatory bodies, and how arbitration works. Though the book includes two chapters on online trading and concludes with several chapters on choosing investments and financial advisers, it focuses on dealing with brokerage fraud; the authors even provide their phone numbers and web sites for prospective clients. The writing style is straightforward and somewhat informal, but a lot of technical information is provided. Because of its up-to-date coverage and moderate price, this book is recommended for all public libraries, even those with small investment collections. It is also appropriate as an introductory or supplemental offering in academic libraries supporting finance collections.

Does Your Broker Owe You Money? By Daniel R. Solin:

This is the revised and updated edition of the widely acclaimed book that shook the rafters of the securities industry. Solin explains how to avoid being harmed by brokers and what you can do if you are already a victim of broker misconduct.

The Fatal Conceit by F.A. Hayek:

Hayek gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the “errors of socialism.” Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that its repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas that this century has witnessed were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the “fatal conceit” the idea that “man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes.”

The Unbeatable Market by Ron Ross PhD:

Taking the Indexing Path to Financial Peace of Mind, a former professor of economics, Ron Ross Ph.D. has spent more than 20 years providing investment advice to major pension plans, trustees, and individuals. Author of a popular financial advice column, Ross has the rare ability to make even the most complex economic concepts intelligible for the general public.

The Pirates of Manhattan by Barry James Dyke:

Systematically plundering the American consumer and how to protect against it. Get behind the scene of modern finance and discover the people and financial institutions which control your financial life. Learn why most of the financial industry is rigged in favor of insiders in the banking industry and Wall Street. In this new deeply researched book, the author will bring transparency to the American economic system.

Missed Fortune 101 by Douglas R. Andrew:

“Unaware, we proceed down the highway of life, pursuing financial security with one foot on the brake pedal and the other on the gas. We may eventually make it to our destination, but only after a pretty jerky ride. We wonder why a few others arrived at the station of financial independence sooner, achieving more, with a much smoother ride.

“This book will teach concepts and give insights that are contrary to popular belief. Now is the time to discover the best way to safely accumulate more money. Feeling open-minded?”

The Last Chance Millionaire by Douglas R. Andrew:

Wouldn’t it be great if you heard some good news for a change about planning for your retirement?

Wouldn’t it be even more amazing if you learned that you didn’t need to pay down your mortgage… and that there’s a better way to save beyond a 401(k) plan?

And wouldn’t it be over the top if you could find a way to transform your home’s equity into a retirement package that would allow your golden years to be truly golden, including a vacation home?

Sound too good to be true? Welcome to a new approach to retirement planning. The time has come for you to read bestselling financial author Douglas Andrew’s explosive new book

Common Sense and Other Writings by Thomas Paine:

Though he did not emigrate from England to the American colonies until 1774, just a few months before the Revolutionary War began, Thomas Paine had an enormous impact on that war and the new nation that emerged from it. Common Sense, the instantly popular pamphlet he published in January 1776, argued that the goal of the struggle against the British should be not simply tax reform, as many were calling for, but complete independence. His rousing, radical voice was balanced by the equally independence-minded but more measured tones of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence later that year.

In later works, such as The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, and other selections included in this volume, Paine proved himself a visionary moralist centuries ahead of his time. He believed that every human has the natural right to life’s necessities and that government’s role should be to provide for those in dire need. An impassioned opponent of all forms of slavery, he understood that no one in poverty is truly free, a lesson still to be learned by many of our leaders today.

Take On the Street by Arthur Levitt: Investors today are being fed lies and distortions, are being exploited and neglected. In the wake of the last decade’s rush to invest by millions of households and Wall Street’s obsession with short-term performance, a culture of gamesmanship has grown among corporate management, financial analysts, brokers, and fund managers, making it hard to tell financial fantasy from reality, salesmanship from honest advice.

In Take on the Street, Arthur Levitt—former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission—shows how you can take matters into your own hands. At once anecdotal (names are named), informative, and prescriptive, Take on the Street expounds on, among other subjects: the relationship between broker compensation and your trading account; the conflicts of interest inherent in buy-hold-or-sell recommendations of analysts; what exactly happens—and who gets a piece of the action—when you place an order; the “seven deadly sins” of mutual funds; the vagaries and vicissitudes of 401(k) investments; how accountants engage in sleight of hand to fake impressive company performance; how to find the truth in a company’s financial statements; the real reason for the Street’s hostility to full disclosure; the crisis in corporate governance, and, given these shenanigans and double-dealings, what specific steps you can take to safeguard your financial future.

With integrity and authority, Levitt gives us a bracing primer on the collapse of the system for overseeing our capital markets, and sage, essential advice on a discipline we often ignore to our peril—how not to lose money.
The Truths
All you need is one formula so you can concentrate on how to better manage your money instead of being bombarded by minutiae and information overload. By reading the truths about investing and avoiding the lies, you can arm yourself against the hype and prepare for investment success.