Recommended Reading

The Number : A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life
by Lee Eisenberg
Free Press (Simon & Schuster)

The often avoided, anxiety-riddled discussion about financial planning for a secure and fulfilling future has been given a new starting point in this book. The Number represents the amount of money and resources people will need to enjoy the active life they desire, especially post-career. Backed by imaginative and visionary advice, Eisenberg urges people to assume control and responsibility for their standard of living, and to sufficiently enable their enduring aspirations for years to come.

The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham
Collins Business Essentials

Since it was first published in 1949, Graham’s investment guide has sold over a million copies and has been praised by such luminaries as Warren E. Buffet as “the best book on investing every written.” These accolades are well deserved. In its new form--with commentary on each chapter and extensive footnotes prepared by senior Money editor, Jason Zweig--the classic is now updated in light of changes in investment vehicles and market activities since 1972. What remains is a better book. Graham’s sage advice, analytical guides, and cautionary tales are still valid for the contemporary investor, and Zweig's commentaries demonstrate the relevance of Graham's principles in light of 1990s and early twenty-first century market trends.

The hallmark of Graham’s philosophy is not profit maximization but loss minimization. In this respect, The Intelligent Investor is a book for true investors, not speculators or day traders. He provides, “in a form suitable for the laymen, guidance in adoption and execution of an investment policy.” This policy is inherently for the longer term and requires a commitment of effort. Where the speculator follows market trends, the investor uses discipline, research, and his/her analytical ability to make unpopular but sound investments in bargains relative to current asset value. Graham coaches the investor to develop a rational plan for buying stocks and bonds, and he argues that this plan must be a bulwark against the emotional behavior that will always be tempting during abrupt bull and bear markets.

Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk
by Roger C. Gibson
McGraw Hill

Financial experts agree that asset allocation is the key strategy for maintaining a consistent, yet superior, rate of investment return. Now, Roger Gibson’s Asset Allocation, the bestselling reference book on this popular subject for a decade, has been updated to keep pace with the latest developments and findings. The Third Edition provides step-by-step strategies for implementing asset allocation in a high return/low risk portfolio, educating financial advisors and their clients on the solid logic behind asset allocation, and more.

Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
by David F. Swensen
Free Press (Simon & Schuster)

A contrarian investment alternative that promotes well-diversified, equity-oriented, “market-mimicking” portfolios that reward investors who exhibit the courage to stay the course. In Unconventional Success, investment legend David F. Swensen offers incontrovertible evidence that the for-profit mutual-fund industry consistently fails the average investor. From excessive management fees to the frequent “churning” of portfolios, the relentless pursuit of profits by mutual-fund management companies harms individual clients.

Stocks for the Long Run
by Jeremy J. Siegel
Irwin McGraw-Hill

When Wall Street historians look back on the final decade of the 20th century, the publication of this book will be viewd as a seminal event. In this classic work, Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel analyzed market results since 1802 to offer the most complete and irrefutable case for stock market investment ever written.

The Wealthy Barber, by David Chilton, has accomplished a “publishing impossible” by selling over 2 million copies in North America. More than ten years after it was first published it still appears regularly on bestseller lists. The reason for its sustained popularity? It provides financial education in an entertaining and understandable format.

The Millionaire Next Door
by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.
Longstreet Press

How can you join the ranks of America’s wealthy (defined as people whose net worth is over one million dollars)? It’s easy, say doctors Stanley and Danko, who spent 20 years interviewing members of this elite club: you just have to follow seven simple rules. The first rule is, always live well below your means. The last rule is, choose your occupation wisely. You'll have to buy the book to find out the other five. It’s only fair. The authors’ conclusions are commonsensical. But, as they point out, their prescription often flies in the face of what we think wealthy people should do. There are no pop stars or athletes in this book, but plenty of wall-board manufacturers--particularly ones who take cheap, infrequent vacations! Stanley and Danko mercilessly show how wealth takes sacrifice, discipline, and hard work, qualities that are positively discouraged by our high-consumption society. “You aren't what you drive,” admonish the authors. Somewhere, Benjamin Franklin is smiling.

Mind Over Money: How to Match Your Emotional Style to a Winning Financial Strategy
by John W. Schott, M.D.
Little, Brown and Company

For too many people, emotions prevent them from making smart investment decisions and, in the long run, keep them from financial success. Mind over Money puts the psychology of investing to work for individual investors. A pioneer in the field of investment psychology, John W. Schott, M.D. — the “Money Doctor” — has helped numerous clients to understand the psychology behind their investment decisions.

Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor
by John C. Bogle
Wiley

While no 450-page work on mutual funds with lots of charts can be considered fun summer reading, the book is always informative and the writing never worse than painless and sometimes quite lively. Bogle speaks with a rare authority. On one hand, he is the founder of Vanguard mutual funds, the second-largest mutual fund company in the world. So he knows the business from the ground up. On the other hand, Vanguard has always been famous for running low-cost mutual funds, funds that eschew loads, engage in sensible strategies and return all profit to the investors. So Bogle is also a leading consumer advocate. That rare combination, mixed with years of serious research and a dash of style, makes Bogle an unparalleled guide to the world of mutual funds.

In The Checklist of Life
by Lynn McPhelimy
AAIP Publishing Company

“Death is certain. Life is not.” So begins this useful workbook that’s aimed at helping your survivors handle the requisite legal and household affairs after your death. Author Lynn McPhelimy was inspired to write the book when her parents were both diagnosed with terminal cancer and her father said to her, ‘You know when I’m gone, I don’t want the yard all dug up when you’re looking for the septic tank. So here is this little map.’

This is a workbook, not a reading book. It includes forms for every kind of list you and your survivors will need.