Top 5 Greatest Investment Book Authors

Today’s guest post comes from Ryan of Semperfinance, a military-community oriented personal finance and stock investment blog.

Education is the key to developing successful investment strategies. Blogs, websites and periodicals are great for staying up to date on the latest and greatest in the financial world, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned book for reinforcing the fundamentals and learning from the masters. Here’s a list of the top 5 investment authors every stock investor should be familiar with.

Benjamin Graham

Considered the father of value investing, he invented the Mr. Market metaphor and advised evaluating stocks as one would evaluate a business. Graham, a Columbia business school professor, published Security Analysis in the midst of the Great Depression. Anyone who can successfully sell books on stock investing during the Great Depression is worth taking a look at. Warren Buffet considers himself a disciple of Graham, even naming one of his sons (Howard Graham Buffett) after him. Every investor should be familiar with his work.

Recommended Books:

Warren Buffett

While not an author of books, Buffett has written many articles and (now famous) letters to shareholders. His writing contains homey Midwestern wisdom, jokes and pearls of investing wisdom. Buffett was greatly influenced by mentor Graham whose work he draws upon, but he has his own insights developed over many years of successful, smart investing.

Recommended Books:

Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch was an investing legend. His should be admired for his work ethic as much as his stock picks. Lynch practiced due diligence in picking stocks 24/7. Even on vacation he would ski a run, call a company to speak to the management then get back on the chairlift and do it over again. Like Buffett and Graham, Lynch advised focusing on company fundamentals and did not try to predict the market.

Recommended Books:

Tom and David Gardner

These two brothers were taught stock market investing by their father and ushered stock investing into the Internet era with their landmark website, fool.com. These guys have created the “Foolish” philosophy of bucking the trends of the “Wise” on Wall Street.

Recommended Books:

Robert Kiyosaki

Some people hate Kiyosaki, but I think he has some very good points to make. Don’t expect a lot of specific investment advice from Kiyosaki, instead he reinforces fundamental financial principles every investor should espouse.

Recommended Books:

If you haven’t read all of these books, you’re missing out on your financial education. Get started today!

A Million Bucks By 30 | Book Review

I just finished reading A Million Bucks By 30:How to Overcome a Crap Job, Stingy Parents, and a Useless Degree to Become a Millionaire Before (or After) Turning Thirty. The author, Alan Corey, was kind enough to send me a review copy. I must say, it’s one of the most interesting personal finance books ever! In fact, its my all time favorite.

A lot of people have complained that Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad stories sounded insincere and that killed the whole concept for them. If you’re in that camp, then you’ll love Corey’s book. He recounts his days of living in abject poverty until he become a millionaire. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t poor – he just lived that way to achieve his dream of becoming a millionaire before his 30th birthday. While his story is quite hilarious, he actually covers all the points of personal finance without actually dwelling too long on them; live on less than you earn, learn about investing, invest for your retirement, delay your gratification, take educated risks, avoid payday loans, make sure your significant other is on the same page or get another significant other. Instead of explicitly mentioning these points, he just shows you how he practiced them on a daily basis.

He was so passionate about living below his means that he moved into the projects (Spanish Harlem) in NY and lived on Ramen noodles for 3 months. He invested 55% of his meager pre-tax salary into stocks, 401k, a Roth IRA and real estate and lived on the rest. By deeply studying the real estate market he was able to recognize changing market conditions and he took a big risk with his investments. But he partnered with the right people and his investments grew exponentially. Coupled with his frugal lifestyle and his book deal, he achieved his goal at the age of 29.

It’s a very enjoyable read. He doesn’t hit you over the head with any lessons and you really feel you’ve gotten to know him by the end of the book. Thanks for the copy Alan!

If anyone else would like me to review their book, you know where to find me!