Subhashish A
Strategic Account Manager - Oracle USA : Financial, Utilities and Manufacturing(Fortune 500 companies)
Are there any simple websites/Books which help educate Non-Financial people about Finance
Given the Jet Speed way the economy moves, one needs to invest enough to last for sometime. I agree that most of us are not "Warren Buffet s" , but at least we should make efforts to invest enough when times are good , so that we enjoy its benefits when we need it.
Are their simple books /websites for "Non- Financial" to get educated as Financial people. Do you know anyone who can help, and has done very good for himself/herself.
Any help from Linkedin members will me appreciated.
Thanks
SA
Answers (15)
Daniel D. O
Christian Leader, Writer, Investor and Professional. Invite me at lionsden888@hotmail.com.
Best Answers in: Starting Up (1)
Dear Subhashish,
There are a variety of books on the market in the personal finance area.
For current books I would recommend going to www.booksmedia.com/cj
for the Wall Street Journal's Best Seller List.
However, for general books on wealth building I would recommend the following:
*Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
*The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason ( a classic)
*The Secret Kingdom by Pat Robertson ( another classic book)
*The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
I hope that helps.
Links:
Clarification added November 18, 2007:
P.S. You may also wish to listen to the Clark Howard radio talk show which focuses on personal finance. Also, a noted author in the area of personal finance is a guy named Dave Ramsay or Ramsey I think.
Jim P
Product Management and Marketing Professional
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In addition to the books that Daniel mentions, recommend that you subscribe to a personal financial magazine such as: Money, Kiplingers and/or Smart Money. In addition to timely advise, (tax law changes, etc.) you will over time gain a great deal of knowledge on this subject.
Simon F
New Media Technologist
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The Motley Fool has been educating non-financial types since 1994. The original Fools' (brothers David and Tom Gardner) books, newsletters and web site (fool.com) contain a wealth of information.
Start there, and then check out the excellent resources available through Yahoo Finance. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also provides numerous free publications online, including some excellent educational resources about online trading.
Good luck!
Links:
I would highly recommend Bill McGuinness's "Cash Rules". This book speaks very eloquently to all the key concepts while shielding readers from the complexities associated with them. I would add though, that it's accented more towards corporate finance, than personal finance. Thanks.
Links:
Havoc P
Director, Operating System Development at Litl
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Two books I like a lot:
- "Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People," by Jane Bryant Quinn (lots of practical advice on a range of issues)
- "Your Money or Your Life," by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin (more big-picture, less nuts-and-bolts; may not appeal to everyone)
I prefer books and advisors that take a comprehensive approach. The way the math works out over a lifetime, unless you start with a large sum of money, investing isn't all that important. The huge influences on your financial outcome include career and income; medical, natural, or legal catastrophes that weren't insured against; tax planning including use of 401k, 529, and other plans; and how much you save vs. how much you spend, including staying out of debt.
Of the personal finance magazines, my favorite is Money; it has less emphasis on investing, and often profiles a real-world family or two in each issue, going over the advice they received to overhaul their finances. I have not read an issue of Consumer Reports Money Adviser, though - that one might be good. I have read a number of SmartMoney and Kiplinger's and don't think they are as sensible as Money, on average.
A good place to start when looking for an advisor is NAPFA: http://www.napfa.org/consumer/index.asp
On investing specifically, Vanguard has good information: https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
Morningstar.com has solid advice and perspective, though their best content requires a premium subscription, and for most people the site has way, way too much information. They have a personal finance section: http://www.morningstar.com/Cover/PersonalFinance.html
They also have a "Practical Finance" newsletter, I haven't read it, but the editor Sue Stevens has a lot of free columns on the site that are consistently high quality.
If you wanted to dig more into investing, some books that I liked:
- "Devil Take the Hindmost (A History of Financial Speculation)," by Edward Chancelor, this is a history book, but in investing one doesn't want to be doomed to repeat it
- "Your Money and Your Brain," by Jason Zweig, has a lot of good perspective on how paying attention to investing often results in screwing it up
- "The Intelligent Investor," by Benjamin Graham, is a classic and Jason Zweig has helpful commentary that updates the outdated bits
- "All About Asset Allocation" and "All About Index Funds," by Richard Ferri and/or "The Intelligent Asset Allocator," by William Bernstein are good discussions of why low-cost index funds are good and the ideas behind a typical target-year retirement fund like those from Vanguard or T Rowe Price.
But again, I don't think investing is that important, beyond a couple of basic points that are already included in more general personal finance books.
Another book to consider:
- "Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies," by Sheryl Garrett, looks comprehensive based on table of contents and I know Sheryl Garrett is credible from her other stuff, but I have not read this one yet. It's annoying that it's from the "for Dummies" series but if you can get past that it's probably pretty helpful.
On http://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com/ there are some decent book suggestions also, the site uses frames so I can't link directly to the page with the books on it.
If it's all just too much, the 9-point Dilbert Plan would put most of us way ahead:
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/03/happiness_formu.html
Somehow www.investopedia.com has wokred very well for me.
Also yahoo finance has finance for Dummies kind of stuff.
Vanessa M
AmeriCorps*VISTA member at Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees
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There are also a variety of blogs that address personal finance as well. Please refer to links below.
Links:
Hi Subhashish,
I'm assuming you are referring to Equity Investments.
A good website is www.investopedia.com
In India there are books on Investing published by Vision Books. ( www.visionbooksindia.com )
I recommend Fundamental Analysis for Investors by Raghu Palat.
SA,
There are books and websites which can explain in simple terms the art and science of Investing. But the process of investing is not simple and needs lot of hardwork and discipline.
I think the best books to start with are
1. Essays of Warren Buffet
2. Value Investor ( Graham & Dodd)
3. Securities Analysis (Graham)
4. Financial Statement Analysis (Graham)
5. One up on Wall street (Peter Lynch)
There are websites such as Motleyfool.com, Investopedia.com etc. But I suggest you go to a few blogs like the below on value investing in India.
1. http://www.valueinvestorindia.blogspot.com/
2. http://blog.investraction.com/
All the above books focus on long term investing (owning the business Vs Owning the Stock mindset) and need to be read thoroughly. Value Investor book was written in 1930s and in my opinion is the Bible for Investing.
The books and websites that you may need depend on your investment horizon. If it is less than a year then Technical Analysis takes precedence over business analysis. That would be a complicated matter and best to be left to pros. If the horizon is longer than 5-10 years. (even better if longer) fundamental analysis becomes the key and it would be easy to learn through books and websites.
More often the tips for investing dont come from the books and websites, but through our observations of the people at the next street corner. Best of Luck.
Clarification added November 19, 2007:
Graham book on Value Investing is actually "The Intelligent Investor". My top marks go this book. This book is not to get quick bucks. But to get 5-10% additional rate of return over the Stock market. Over a 10 year period that makes a LOT of difference.
Hi Subhashish
Try these links:
http://www.cfo.com/
http://www.conversation.com/default.asp
http://www.reuters.com/business/banking
Hi Subhashish,
You are on the right track in terms of making an effort to invest. You could check out the first link for a variety of articles.
I like David Bach's books (Finish Rich series, link given below).
For a different point of view, also check out: Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaire: Books: Douglas R. Andrew by Douglas R. Andrew. (2nd link)
In general my advice is beware of anyone who advocates only one way as the "right way". You can reach your goals in a variety of ways, and you can use a variety of investments to accomplish your wealth target. Some people invest in managed funds while others swear by index investing. Some smart strategies to keep emotion out of investing are: asset allocation, dollar-cost averaging, and rebalancing your portfolio periodically. The key is to "buy low-sell high" and this is accomplished by following these strategies and helps you be calm even when the market is volatile.
Good luck!
Links:
I only have one suggestion. I am not saying that this book is better than any of the other suggestions, but I implore you to read it before any of the others:
"Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Taleb
Links:
Hi SA,
You mentioned you want it simple. I would recommend starting with a book titled "Facing Financial Dysfunction" by Bert Whitehead. It is a very fundamental and tactical book that cuts through the financial B.S.
The Motley Fool web site is good for the "do-it-yourself" types but the book by Whitehead help you identify what is important for you (cuts through the crap). It is like having a guide when you go to Home Depot rather that figuring what you need to buy after you get there.
Regards,
Matt
Links:
If you want a pragmatic book that cuts through all the theoretical clutter on investments and entrepreneurship, then get "The Millionaire Maker" by Loral Langemeier. It will get you going very quickly.
Have a good one.
Bright
Links:
investopedia.com is one of those websites you can look for information
