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Best Bogle book on index funds for an unsophisticated investor?


west

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I recently was asked by a friend of one of my family members about what they should do as far as investing goes?  I talked a little with them and based on their personality and the amount of money they had, I think an index fund is the best option for them.

 

I want to recommend a book to them about index funds so they have some grounding if the market ever goes down.  I figure recommending one of Bogle's many books is probably the way to go, but I have no idea which one is the best.  Plus, I've read some of Bogle's non-indexing related books, and they have a tendency to be hard to chew.  Does anyone know of one of his books that's easy enough to read that your typical, let's say, People magazine reader could read it?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS- To stop the argument before it begins, I pick my own investments myself (as I'm sure many of you know).  So I understand that the market is inefficient in places and you can take advantage of it.  However, after assessing my family's friend's personality and financial sophistication, they will be best served by an index fund.  So please don't tell me they should be in individual stocks.  Sorry to be blunt.

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I recently was asked by a friend of one of my family members about what they should do as far as investing goes?  I talked a little with them and based on their personality and the amount of money they had, I think an index fund is the best option for them.

 

I want to recommend a book to them about index funds so they have some grounding if the market ever goes down.  I figure recommending one of Bogle's many books is probably the way to go, but I have no idea which one is the best.  Plus, I've read some of Bogle's non-indexing related books, and they have a tendency to be hard to chew.  Does anyone know of one of his books that's easy enough to read that your typical, let's say, People magazine reader could read it?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS- To stop the argument before it begins, I pick my own investments myself (as I'm sure many of you know).  So I understand that the market is inefficient in places and you can take advantage of it.  However, after assessing my family's friend's personality and financial sophistication, they will be best served by an index fund.  So please don't tell me they should be in individual stocks.  Sorry to be blunt.

 

I'd go with something like The Boglehead's Guide to Investing by Larimore and Lindauer.  Not by Bogle himself, but by the King Boglehead, Taylor Larimore (and others).

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The Four Pillars of Investing by Bernstein. This is the book I recommend to most friends and by far the best book on indexing I read. The author wrote this book because his earlier book the intelligent asset allocator is hard to read for beginners.

 

Vinod

 

Yes, it's good and much easier than his other book, but I would say it still really isn't as straightforward for a beginner.  I'd still go with something like the Boglehead's Book. 

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What do you guys think about about The Little Book of Common Sense Investing?  I was leaning toward recommending The Bogleheads Guide, but I looked at its contents on Amazon and, even though it looks pretty to the point, I still think it might be information overload for this person (and then it might never get read...)

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The Four Pillars of Investing by Bernstein. This is the book I recommend to most friends and by far the best book on indexing I read. The author wrote this book because his earlier book the intelligent asset allocator is hard to read for beginners.

 

Vinod

 

Yes, it's good and much easier than his other book, but I would say it still really isn't as straightforward for a beginner.  I'd still go with something like the Boglehead's Book.

 

That probably explains why none of my friends are really indexing.

 

Vinod

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I guess my questions is if someone is going to just buy an index fund (which is a good idea for most people), what are they really going to get out of a book?

 

The understanding that indexing is the best option for them despite what so many other people will tell them, the understanding that the market will go down eventually and that they need to be mentally prepared for it, and the understanding that they will do better than most if they have a long enough time horizon.

 

It's all about understanding what the person is getting into, even though it's a passive vehicle.

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The "little book" by malkiel and ellis; "Elements of Investing" is pretty decent.  Does a good job with describing asset allocation and rebalancing and whatnot.  Quick and easy read.  I recently blasted through Bogle on mutual funds (from the library thankfully)...not a fan of the book.

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Yes, if they might not have the attention span and interest for a several hundred page book, blogs would be better.

 

If they really need a good overall personal finance context within which to fit index investing, they may need only two blog posts:

 

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-zero-to-hero-in-one-blog-post/

 

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/05/18/how-to-make-money-in-the-stock-market/

 

If they get bit by the investing bug, they can then progress to the bogleheads website.

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