What if there were a way to cut through all the financial mumbo-jumbo? Wouldn’t it be great if someone could really explain to us--in plain and simple English--the basics we must know about investing in order to insure our financial freedom?
At last, here’s good news.
Jargon-free and written for all investors--experienced, beginner, and everyone in between--The Investment Answer distills the process into just five decisions--five straightforward choices that can lead to safe and sound ways to manage your money.
When Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray told his good friend and financial advisor, Dan Goldie, that he had only six months to live, Dan responded, “Do you want to write that book you’ve always wanted to do?” The result is this eminently valuable primer which can be read and understood in one sitting, and has advice that benefits you, not Wall Street and the rest of the traditional financial services industry.
The Investment Answer asks readers to make five basic but key decisions to stack the investment odds in their favor. The advice is simple, easy-to-follow, and effective, and can lead to a more profitable portfolio for every investor. Specifically:
Should I invest on my own or seek help from an investment professional?
How should I allocate my investments among stocks, bonds, and cash?
Which specific asset classes within these broad categories should I include in my portfolio?
Should I take an actively managed approach to investing, or follow a passive alternative?
When should I sell assets and when should I buy more?
In a world of fast-talking traders who believe that they can game the system and a market characterized by instability, this extraordinary and timely book offers guidance every investor should have.
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609 of 631 found the following review helpful:
Elegant summary of the core of personal investingSep 21, 2010
By Stephen Huxley
"Stephen J. Huxley"
One of the advantages of a college education with a major in finance is that you learn the fundamentals, and, more importantly, you learn the boundaries of the universe in terms of what the field includes and what it excludes. Spend an hour or so reading this book, and you will also get that comfortable feeling that comes from knowing that you understand what personal investing is really all about. You will get the "big picture" and how it affects you.
I have been a full time faculty member teaching at the college level for the past 35 years and must say that the authors have managed to capture the essence of personal investing in about as few pages as I have ever seen and with a clarity that is very rare in books on this topic. I intend to make it required reading for both my undergraduate and graduate personal finance classes.
I might also add that any negative reviews posted to this site are likely to come from Wall Street brokers who make their living by exploiting the general public's ignorance on investing. These brokers don't like books that clarify and illuminate rather than mystify and obfuscate basic principles. As a lifelong educator, I applaud Goldie's and Murray's noble effort to help readers educate themselves so as not to be fooled by the same Wall Streeters who disgraced themselves in 2008 and nearly destroyed our economy with their greediness. Anyone who feels they don't know enough about investing should read this book. It is a gem.
159 of 172 found the following review helpful:
The title says it all - The AnswerAug 30, 2010
By Peter C. Gotcher You won't be getting this book from your broker for Christmas. You don't need to read a bunch of "Beat The Market!!!!!" books to develop a sound approach to investing. Evaluate your personal investment goals and timeframe, take a gut check on your appetite for risk, and accept that risk and returns are correlated. The authors make a compelling, data driven argument in under 100 pages that describes a "no regrets" approach to investing. Market timing, stock picking, commodity speculating, etc. ultimately benefit the trading pros over the average investor. Choose your asset allocation model with a few simple principles, then buy diversified global capitalism for your equity component with low expenses. And hold it. Done. You won't be the big winner in any given year, but you will likely out perform 95%+ of investors who buy the proven myth that they can beat the market. There are many purveyors of this snake oil, but few truth tellers. Murray and Goldie get it right, and this book is so short and to the point that you must read it.
124 of 136 found the following review helpful:
the investment primer for everyoneAug 21, 2010
By B. Smith I just read The Investment Answer this morning in under an hour and it is brilliant -- comprehensive without being overwhelming, easy for a broad audience to read and understand, and most importantly, easy for anyone to execute.
Over the last 30 years, this is the model we have used to invest, and it has served us very well. But we have not been able to articulate this sensible plan to friends and family (especially our children) in a way that was understandable and compelling. The temptation to "take the bait" from Wall Street is strong. Many friends and colleagues who are more "sophisticated" investors suffered the sad outcomes so elegantly described in the book.
Gordon and Daniel -- thank you, thank you for writing this book. I am placing my order for 10 copies to give away to family and friends this morning. You have accomplished what few have -- a lasting legacy that will positively impact many families for a lifetime!
55 of 62 found the following review helpful:
All you need to know for a successful investment experienceOct 20, 2010
By Jerrold A. Grecu CFA, CFP(r) Like losing weight, successful investing is based on a few simple concepts. However, also similar to losing weight, the concepts are not always easy to implement. It takes discipline to execute the simple concepts of eat less and exercise more. It also takes discipline to execute the simple concepts of diversification and rebalancing. Dan Goldie and Gordon Murray have done a terrific job of breaking down successful investing to a few core concepts. They explain the concepts in layman terms, always keeping it short and simple. The beauty of this book is the brevity yet clarity of each concept covered. You do NOT need to read a 300+ page book to understand investing. There is now this book, which is under 80 pages...but even a quicker read than you might think because of the font and graphs. I read the entire book in two hours one evening. I have an undergrad degree in Finance and Economics and have spent about five years combined time earning my CFA and CFP(r) designations. YET, if you simply commit to spending two hours reading this book, you will be privy to all the key investment principles that took me 20 years in the business to discover. Not only do I give this five stars, but I plan on buying 50 books and giving them away to every relative and friend I have. Disclosure: I don't know either author nor have I met either one. I'm just in the same industry and delighted that someone actually wrote the book that I wish I had written.
43 of 48 found the following review helpful:
Run, don't walk, to get this book!!Aug 27, 2010
By Nancy Leopold Several years ago, Gordon sat my husband and me down to show us the beta version of this book. We'd been friends for years and he felt strongly that we needed to know how to protect our money. His arguments were so clear and compelling that we moved our investments from a traditional retail broker to an investment advisor with an investment philosophy based on the concepts in this book -- efficient markets, modern portfolio theory, diversification, and asset allocation.
For the first time, we felt confident that we and our investments were in good hands. Then the recession hit. Our portfolio did less badly than many and rebounded faster than most. And with this book, we understood why.
Run, don't walk to buy this book or download the pdf version. It will give you the peace of mind and sense of control that ONLY happens when you understand how the financial world really works. With what we learned, we felt ready to act in our own best interests. You will too.
based on 158 reviews
( 158 customer reviews )
