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Best Investing Books for Intermediate (competent) Investors
If you are attracted to low-cost index funds (mutual funds) then you are an intermediate level investor — even if you cannot articulate all the reasons why this strategy is best for you yet. Use these books to increase your confidence, because you’ll still be tempted to listen to inner voices of both fear and greed. These lead you to make common mistakes, but you can overcome these inner voices. Learn a little more to gain that confidence.
I chose these books to give you an easy background about some history and the basis for <em>common sense investing</em> concepts. Books in this category will give you sufficient skills to succeed in financing your dreams. You may learn some important vocabulary for basic concepts, but everything can be explained in plain English.
| Book | Author / Description | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
  Click to learn more. | Ellis, Charles A classic; 7th edition; 2017. The go-to guide for serious investors seeking long-term success, Winning the Loser’s Game explains clearly the all-important lessons learned over half a century working with the world’s leading investment experts. | 4.7 stars Amazon 4.0 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Malkiel, Burton A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing A classic. This is his best-seller. It’s brilliant, and very readable. He updates this frequently and I recently bought the tenth edition. Highly recommended! Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.6 stars Amazon 4.1 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Schwed, Fred, Jr. A Classic. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street. A fun read, and as relevant as it ever was. A professional trader, who had the good sense to get out after losing a bundle of money in the 1930 crash, offers wry and astute observations on Wall Street along with bottom-line wisdom. Covers the gamut of financial players and the clients who bring them business. Brimming with amusing anecdotes and stories, this often hilarious cautionary tale is fully illustrated. | 4.4 stars Amazon 4.0 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bernstein, William J. The Four Pillars of Investing A classic. This best-selling author approaches the topic in this book from four perspectives of investing: theory, history, psychology, and the business of investing—then discusses how to combine this into an investment strategy. I was ready for the first edition of this book when it came out in 2002 and it motivated me to get my finances in better order. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.5 stars Amazon 4.2 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bogle, John C. A Classic! Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor This is a fully updated tenth anniversary edition with much commentary about what has changed in the past decade, but still its core is the timeless fundamentals of investing that apply in any type of market. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.3 stars Amazon 4.1 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bernstein, William J. The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between Another brilliant book by a bestselling author, well known for understandable insights about how to manage wealth wisely. An alternative to The Four Pillars of Investing. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.6 stars Amazon 4.1 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Ferri, Richard A. Rick appeals to the nerd in me, the part of me that needs to understand before I can accept and believe. You can read this at that level, or glean the key concepts with a quicker read. Either way, this book is about how to implement an asset allocation strategy—your most important decision. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.4 stars Amazon 4.1 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bogle, John C. Don't Count on It!: Reflections on Investment Illusions, Capitalism, "Mutual" Funds, Indexing, Entrepreneurship, Idealism, and Heroes "This collection of Jack Bogle's writings couldn't be more timely. The clarity of his thinking--and his insistence on the relevance of ethical standards--are totally relevant as we strive to rebuild a broken financial system. For too many years, his strong voice has been lost amid the cacophony of competing self-interests, misdirected complexity, and unbounded greed. Read, learn, and support Jack's mission to reform the industry that has been his life's work." --Paul Volcker | 4.3 stars Amazon 3.8 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bernstein, William J. The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk 2017. Bernstein has become a hero to many. In this early book of his, he builds the case and explanation behind asset diversification. He writes to an intelligent audience but does not assume a mathematical or financial background. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.1 stars Amazon 4.2 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Ferri, Rick The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange Traded Funds Most investors are best served by ordinary mutual funds, but if you reach the point of wanting to know more about ETFs—this is the book and author to go to. Read reviews and buy on Amazon. | 4.3 stars Amazon 3.6 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Ferri, Rick All about Index Funds The updated Second Edition of Richard Ferri's bestselling All About Index Funds offers individual investors an easy-to-use guide for capitalizing on one of today's hottest investing areas_index funds. This wealth-building resource provides essential information on index funds; expert advice on how to start investing; and winning strategies for high returns with low risk. | 4.4 stars Amazon 4.0 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Rowland, Craig; Lawson, J.M. The Permanent Portfolio: Harry Browne's Long-Term Investment Strategy An up close look at an investment strategy that can handle today's uncertain financial environment Market uncertainty cannot be eliminated. So rather than attempt to do away with it, why not embrace it? That is what this book is designed to do. The Permanent Portfolio takes you through Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio approach—which can weather a wide range of economic conditions from inflation and deflation to recession—and reveals how it can help investors protect and grow their money. | 4.4 stars Amazon 4.4 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Swedroe, Larry E. Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe's Tales to Enrich Your Future Larry Swedroe offers engaging stories to readers as a way of explaining sound investing concepts. | 4.4 stars Amazon 3.9 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Swedroe, Larry; Hempen, Joseph The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need: The Way Smart Money Preserves Wealth Today Larry Swedroe, the author of The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need, has collaborated with Joe H. Hempen to create an up-to-date book on how to invest in today's bond market that covers a range of issues pertinent to any bond investor today including: bond-speak, the risks of fixed income investing, mortgage-backed securities, and municipal bonds. The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need is a no-nonsense handbook with all the information necessary to design and construct your fixed income portfolio. | 3.8 stars Amazon 3.8 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Swenson, David F. Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment The bestselling author of Pioneering Portfolio Management, the definitive template for institutional fund management, returns with a book that shows individual investors how to manage their financial assets. | 4.1 stars Amazon 4.0 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Swedroe, Larry E. Rational Investing in Irrational Times: How to Avoid the Costly Mistakes Even Smart People Make Today 2002 | 4.6 stars Amazon 4.1 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Dahle, James M. The White Coat Investor: A Doctor's Guide To Personal Finance And Investing Written by and for doctors, but really this book is valuable to all who are highly educated and trained in other fields--and typically have little to no training in business, personal finance, investing, insurance, taxes, estate planning, and asset protection. * This book fills in the gaps and will teach you to use your high income to escape from your student loans, provide for your family, build wealth, and stop getting ripped off by unscrupulous financial professionals. * Straight talk and clear explanations allow the book to be easily digested by a novice to the subject matter yet the book also contains advanced concepts specific to physicians you won’t find in other financial books. | 4.8 stars Amazon 4.5 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Turner, James D. The Physician Philosopher's Guide to Personal Finance: The 20% of Personal Finance Doctors Need to Know to Get 80% of the Results A wonderful writer and a wonderful book for about personal finance basics. Not just for doctors! | 4.8 stars Amazon 4.0 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Bogle, John C. The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation How speculation has come to dominate investment—a hard-hitting look from the creator of the first index fund. | 4.4 stars Amazon 3.9 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Swedroe, Larry E.; Kizer, Jared The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need: The Good, the Flawed, the Bad, and the Ugly. The rewards of carefully chosen alternative investments can be great. But many investors don’t know enough about unfamiliar investments to make wise choices. For that reason, financial advisers Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer designed this book to bring investors up to speed on the twenty most popular alternative investments. | 4.1 stars Amazon 3.9 stars Goodreads |
  Click to learn more. | Dahle, James M. The White Coat Investor's Financial Boot Camp: A 12-Step High-Yield Guide to Bring Your Finances Up to Speed (Feb 2019) This book is excellent for its category—personal finance for young physicians. If you are a resident, or a young attending, you need to read this book. Or instead you can read 50 other books on investing and personal finance. Or just work an extra 10 years to make up for the financial mistakes you’ll make. It’s up to you. I know you have a ton of material to read already, but this is high yield, and well worth the time. | 5.0 stars Amazon 4.7 stars Goodreads |
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Related book recommendations:
- Best books by John Bogle — certainly the best books on mutual funds
- John C. Bogle Quotes
- A comic book on investing!
- www.amazon.com/shop/financinglife
(Use this link to support this website. It won’t cost you a penny more.)
