Good Books for New Investors

Written by The Dividend Guy on January 14, 2007

Today, my sister-in-law asked me to recommend a couple of investing books that would be a good start for her. Her prime objective she told me was to ensure that she did not get ripped off by high mutual fund fees and taken advantage of by a broker who sells investment products based on the commissions they generate as opposed to the potential returns the fund could offer.

On a side note, this was a positive comment coming from a new investor like her. The fact that the word is getting out that high mutual fund fees are bad and that some brokers recommend investment products based on their commission as opposed to how good they are for that individual is great. I know there is a long way to go, but at least there are signs of progress.

Back to the topic at hand - good books to start with. I started thinking of the books that really got me interested in investing. At first I thought of books such as The Wealthy Barber but I think she is beyond that. My brother and her are already investing regularly - both savings and pension so that book would probably not cover what she needed. I also know that they don’t want to be as hands on with their portfolio as I am, so I had to keep that in mind. This was actually proving to be more difficult than I thought.

In the end, I decided to provide her with a list of 5 good books that would cover a couple of different areas - asset allocation, stock selection, index funds, etc. This way, she would get a good basic level of understanding and could then decide for herself which areas she wanted to dig into deeper, based on her needs. The list I ultimately gave her is as follows:

1. The Dividend Growth Investment Strategy - RoxAnne Klugman
2. The Little Book of Value Investing - Christopher H. Browne and Roger Lowenstein
3. The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life - Bill Schultheis
4. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing - Jason Kelly
5. Learn to Earn: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business - Peter Lynch

I think that is a pretty good start. Of course, there are hundreds of more books out there, but these are all easy to follow and valuable to learn.


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11 Comments so far

  1. Investorial January 15, 2007 10:37 pm

    Good list! I’ll have to check out the coffeehouse investor, sounds interesting!

  2. antlese January 16, 2007 5:54 pm

    Thanks for the list. I’ve been thinking that its time for me to buy another investing book (or two). I’ve read some reviews on the books in your list and I’m going to pick up
    The Dividend Growth Investment Strategy - RoxAnne Klugman and The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing - Jason Kelly.

    I’ve read the Coffeehouse Investor and really enjoyed it.

    Love your site… i visit it often.
    Thanks again.

  3. Ken January 19, 2007 11:40 am

    There’s some good books on this list. But if she wants to avoid getting ripped by mutual funds and advisors, the absolute best book is The Naked Investor by John Lawrence Reynolds. It clearly explains how the mutual fund companies and advisors make their money. His critical analysis of the industry will make most people run in the other direction.

  4. Jason Kelly January 20, 2007 5:20 pm

    Just a quick note to say thank-you for recommending my book, “The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing” and for your valuable site. Keep up the good work!

    Warm regards,
    Jason Kelly

  5. The Dividend Guy January 20, 2007 6:49 pm

    Jason - well thanks for visiting!! Cool to have a best selling author visiting the site!!

    The Dividend Guy

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    […] The Dividend Guy presents Good Books for New Investors. […]

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  9. SM January 30, 2007 11:26 pm

    I’d recommend a personal finance software by Australian business Parcus Group.
    Easy to use program with features including budgeting, financial planning, real estate analysis, shares valuation, life insurance and a great list of 100s of recomended reading texts, books etc…
    Costs under US$24 so it’s not a huge investment but a good value for money.
    You can get it on http://www.parcusgroup.com/index.html
    or
    http://www.parcusgroup.com/index.html
    Regards

  10. Dividend Inc January 30, 2007 11:56 pm

    Great site…here are some good books that have advanced my knowledge of dividend investing.

    Relative Dividend Yield by Anthony Spare
    Single Best Investment by Lowell Miller
    Dividends Don’t Lie by Geraldine Weiss
    Dow 3000 by Richard Shulman & Thomas Blamer

  11. mhinze.com » Blog Archive » links for 2007-01-23 February 19, 2007 7:54 am

    […] Good Books for New Investors (tags: books investing) […]

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