I’m reading Ron Chernow’s “The House of Morgan,” which follows the Morgan banking dynasty (yes, as in JP Morgan) from its start in the mid-19th Century through the 1980s. This is my first time reading Chernow in four years (I posted here and here about his excellent Ulysses S. Grant biography). Chernow is an excellent writer who manages to keep the reader’s interest all the way through his historical tomes. Reading a Chernow book means much more than following one man’s life story. It means entering a thoroughly-researched world from…
Category: Books
Day 279: Thank You, Balance!
Evidently, my enthusiasm for reading has returned. Last year I didn’t read a whole lot. I made peace with this, but now see this as evidence of being out of balance. I first noticed my interest in reading waning during my “marathon year,” 2021. There’s no question that marathon training takes up a lot of energy, both physically and mentally. It affected everything else in my life, especially my energy to go out, perform, and even read books.* Last Fall, I attempted to balance out marathoning with the rest of…
Day 242: My Path of Personal Development
I have always been a big believer in educating myself and personal development. Whether it’s reading a book, going to a workshop, or hiring a coach, I have been willing to commit my time and money to my own growth. For many things, reading a book has been enough. For instance, Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” helped me become the liberated creative that I am, always confident in my ability to engage in creative projects. Tony Robbins’ “Money: Master the Game” gave me a template for building wealth the slow-and-steady…
Day 198: Personal Finance Books I Read Again and Again
Okay, first let’s deal with the pink elephant in the metaphorical room. Any blog post with the words “personal finance books” and “read again and again” in the title belongs screams personal finance nerd (!). Because only a guy who geeks out on personal finance concepts would ever read personal finance books (yes, as in plural!) one time, let alone “again and again!” Guilty as charged, Your Honor. Here I stand, personal finance geek. On with our show… I have read a lot of personal finance books by now. Yet there are five personal finance books that…
Day 188: Malkiel’s Introduction to Treacherous Derivatives
So I finished “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.” I am quite appreciative of this book. Yet I admit it surprises me a little bit that the father of the index fund has a forty-page appendix devoted to derivatives. Especially after reading Malkiel’s explanation, derivatives strike me as excessively risky to the point of being dangerous, or at the very least, highly problematic for the average investor. I wonder if working with derivatives is even consistent with the philosophy of buy-and-hold, long-term index fund investing. Admittedly I have no actual…
Day 181: Back to Investing Basics
In re-reading “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” I am reminded of the basics of how to succeed as a long-term, buy-and-hold index fund investor. These basics could be summarized as follows: It’s not a flashy formula, but it has worked for millions of people. Let’s take each item one at a time: Save a good portion of your income. Like much of the financial literature, Malkiel makes the all-too-important point that if you don’t save, you don’t have anything to invest: Without a regular savings program, it doesn’t matter…
Day 179: Re-Reading “Random Walk Down Wall Street”
I am re-reading (again) “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” by Burton Malkiel (2012 edition), the investing classic that champions buying and holding index funds for investors rather than trying to beat the market. The last time* I read “Random Walk” was late 2019, before the Pandemic, before inflation reared its ugly head, before interest rates rose, and before the current Bear Market that started last year. 2019 feels like a whole other world. Having gone through the past three years, I now have more understanding as I read the…
Day 70: Taming the Reading Hobgoblin 2.0
I wrote a post a few years ago called “Taming the Reading Hobgoblin.” In that post, I both accepted and lamented the fact that I was not following my reading game, in which I made a point to finish reading books. For several years prior to that, I kept a log of the books I read, and I generally read 20 to 30 books a year. This was quite satisfying, yet I reached a point where I wanted a break from the game. I did not want to force myself…
Day 67: Tony Robbins, I Appreciate You
One of the surprise benefits of re-reading “Money: Master the Game” is to really own what it means to me. I have repeatedly written about it in glowing terms (here and here), yet recently I realized that I have in fact been self-conscious about how much I love it. This seems to have begun when I first read and saw other people’s take on this book (on online blogs and discussion groups). Said feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Incredibly, some people hate this book! Case in point: last week I searched…
Day 57: Your Personal Mount Everest
As I wrote a few days ago, there are many wonderful insights in Tony Robbins’ “Money: Master the Game.” Yet at its core, its message is essentially the same message repeated time and time again in investing books from Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” to JL Collins “A Simple Path to Wealth.” Tony succinctly says it here: The core concept of successful investing is simple: Grow your savings to a point at which the interest from your investments will generate enough income to support your lifestyle without…