The Investing Book That Won My Heart

Reading books will make you a better investor.

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Life is a journey, but the beginning of that journey can have a profound effect on the rest.  Reading one book in particular completely changed the trajectory of my investing journey.

While you can learn to like new foods as an adult, most of our food preferences are formed when we are young.

Most sports fans, myself included, root for their hometown team.  I’m a born and raised New Yorker, so the Giants are my team.  If I was born anywhere else, I would most likely have rooted for that hometown team.  (Though never the Philadelphia Eagles.  NEVER.)

In the same way, while my views on investing have slightly evolved over time, my core investing philosophies came from a book I read years ago and immediately connected with.

That book is The Bogleheads Guide to Investing (hereafter referred to as The Guide).  I’ve read a few investment books before I read The Guide and they just didn’t connect with me.  I’ve read a bunch of investment books after I read The Guide and most of them were not as memorable.

The Guide was a life changing book for me because it presents an investing blueprint that made sense and was easy to implement.  The idea of technical analysis and digging through charts and graphs while following the comings and goings of companies doesn’t appeal to me.

(As a simple introduction, a Boglehead refers to a follower of the philosophy of John Bogle, the founder of The Vanguard Group.  This book as a comprehensive investing guide written by some big time Bogleheads.)

Here are the two reasons why this is my favorite investing book:

Investing Should Be Simple

If you want to make money off of the general public, keep them confused and helpless.  Electricians and plumbers want people to call them anytime they have a problem.  They can charge for materials and whatever they want for labor while we simply nod and hand over the check.

They DO NOT want you to go on YouTube and find out the solution to the problem on your own.  Contractors don’t want you to go online and get the materials you need at a cheaper price.  They will go out of business.

But the more you look up things on your own, the more knowledge you’ll gain and the simpler things will become.  You will also save a lot of money in the process.  And let’s face it, you don’t need to get a PhD in plumbing to become a good plumber.  You need to find solutions to various plumbing issues.  Doing this over time will make you an expert.

The investing industry is very similar.  Investment advisers and brokers have a (wait for it…) VESTED interest in keeping you confused.  They want you to think investing is a very complicated topic that requires decades of expertise to master.  That way, you will be forking over your hard earned money without question.

The Guide says otherwise.  It showed me that as long as you are aware of your financial goals and risk tolerance, knowing what to invest in becomes very simple.  The key is to stick to your plan despite the ups and downs along the way.

And there will be ups and downs.  That’s the nature of investing.  And this is where most investment companies will get you.  They will make you believe that only they know when the markets will go up or down and that’s why you need to keep paying them.

The simplicity of it all will shock you.  But it will also empower you to take control of your investments and focus your time and energy on everything else that matters in your life.

Investing Should Not Be Expensive

The aforementioned investment advisers and brokers who want to keep you confused and take your money?  They don’t come cheap.  Most financial advisers who manage your investments will take a cut of your assets every year, usually 1% or more.

Plus, they can potentially put you into investments that have high expense ratios while not offering you similar ones with lower expense ratios.  (An expense ratio is what you’re charged by the mutual fund company just to be invested in the fund.)  And advisers can receive a kickback from mutual fund companies for putting you in a certain investment.

This goes on top of the fee the adviser takes.  Not good.  The effect of high fees on your investment returns has been well documented.  Most mutual fund managers cannot beat the average market return in one year, let alone for decades.  So there is no way to justify high fees.

The worst part is that a lot of these fees are well hidden.  Most advisers and brokers just take the fee out of your returns rather than having you hand them over a physical check.  That way you don’t feel like you are paying anything.  It’s not illegal but it does seem slightly unethical.  So what’s an average investor to do?

The answer according to The Guide is to stick with mutual funds that have rock bottom fees and track the performance of the overall market you are looking to invest in.  In real terms, this means investing with index funds from Vanguard.  This will give you two major benefits:

1.  You will be paying very low fees

2.  Your investment portfolio will be very simple to manage

These two points will put you way ahead of the majority of investors.  Those investors are paying high fees and buy and sell at the whim of the market.  Investing with Vanguard index funds for the long term will allow you to fully take advantage of compound interest.

And you can do this all on your own without the help of an adviser.  Just sign up for an account with Vanguard and go from there.  No grubby hands trying to find their way into your wallet.

Conclusion

The Guide has taught me to focus exclusively on index funds from Vanguard, and that’s where the vast majority of my investments are.  The only exception is the 529 college plan for my son, which doesn’t contain any Vanguard funds.

Focusing on Vanguard index funds has provided a great return for my portfolio.  This can definitely be attributed to the recent near decade of growth for US stocks, which I’m primarily invested in.  But more importantly, The Guide has showed me that investing with in low cost index funds will give my money the best chance to grow over the long term because of low fees and simplicity.

If you can’t tell by now, I highly recommend this book.  It will set beginning investors on the right path while showing veteran investors that this is ultimately the best way to invest your money.  And it will turn you into a devoted Boglehead like me.

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Comments

  1. This is the very first finance book I read. It had just what I needed and you mentioned-investing is (or at least can be!) very simple.

    • Syed says

      Awesome it’s a great first book to read. Investing doesn’t have to be difficult!

  2. I actually have never heard of this book! I will have to check it out, thanks for the recommendation.

    • Syed says

      Definitely give it a go when you get a chance. Even though it’s an investing book it’s an easy read that’s also highly actionable.

  3. Bogle is the “thought leader” of his time. Always love hearing Bogle speak when he joins the talking heads on CNBC. Will definitely give this book a read. Thank you for the recommendation.

    • Syed says

      Not a problem. You won’t regret a second of reading it.

  4. Vanguard and low cost index funds are the bees knees. Mr. Bogle has enabled so many people (like me) to build wealth that they might never have otherwise if they didn’t have access to low cost easy investing.

    • Syed says

      I agree. Investing in individual stocks just wasn’t appealing to me so I was so excited reading about the Boglehead way. Haven’t looked back since!

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