An Investing Masterclass with Financial Rockstar Peter Mallouk

The world’s greatest investor Warren Buffett read this book when he was 19 years old, and he still calls this “by far the best book about investing ever written.” The Intelligent Investor covers timeless ideas of how the market behaves, how investment is different from speculation, and how to identify profitable investments.

Learn whether you’re a defensive or an aggressive investor, why most trading strategies don’t work, and how to maintain control of your psychology in any type of market condition.

In The Simple Path to Wealth, blogger and financial expert JL Collins offers a simple road map to achieving financial independence and a secure retirement: Spend less than you make, avoid debt, save “F-You Money,” and invest in stock index funds. He demystifies stocks and bonds, as well as a plethora of investment plan options. In addition to explaining basic concepts such as asset allocation, Collins answers key questions such as how to live on your investments and how to avoid major tax hits.

Whether you’re in the wealth accumulation stage of life where you’re growing your investments, or in the wealth preservation stage where you’re living on them, Collins tells you how to use your money to achieve freedom and a more fulfilling life.

In Money: Master the Game, motivational speaker and life coach Tony Robbins argues that anyone can master money, achieve financial well-being, and create their dream lifestyle. In Robbins’ view, to master money means building an investing strategy that yields passive income for life and gives you the choice of when, where, and whether to continue working. Conversely, neglecting to master money means that you’ll always need to trade your time for money.

Our guide unpacks Robbins’s approach to changing your money mindset and financial strategy, and we contrast it with popular approaches to financial independence such as Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) and Early Retirement Extreme (ERE).

A massive bestseller now in its 12th edition, Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street provides a comprehensive and entertaining introduction to the world of finance. Malkiel leverages his experience as an academic economist and former Wall Street portfolio manager to explain for the lay reader the intricacies of security analysis, asset valuation, and investment theory. He also offers a wealth of practical investment principles that will be useful for novice and seasoned investors alike.

With various companies vying to manage investors’ money, investing can feel overwhelming. John Bogle, however, argues that the winning strategy for novice investors is simple: Invest in traditional index funds and hold them indefinitely.

In his 2017 book, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, Bogle outlines the reasons why investors typically make more money with index funds than the primary alternative—actively managed mutual funds. Because the costs of mutual funds vastly outstrip those of index funds, Bogle argues that mutual funds deliver reduced returns, and those relative losses compound over time.

In this guide, we’ll discuss Bogle’s arguments about the superiority of index funds over mutual funds, in addition to his proposed allocation of stocks to bonds in your portfolio. We’ll also dig deeper into the data that underlie Bogle’s arguments and examine how the book’s predictions have panned out since its publication.

Does thinking about your personal finances make your palms start to sweat? If so, you’re not alone. The sheer amount of information out there about managing your finances is overwhelming, especially for people in their 20s or 30s who are just starting their financial journeys. Ramit Sethi is a self-taught expert in personal finance whose goal is to help you cut through the noise of conflicting and overly technical financial advice, get past your own hang-ups around money, and take small steps toward a “rich life”—whatever that looks like for you.

In this summary, you’ll learn how to use credit cards wisely, choose the right bank accounts and investment accounts, plan out your spending, and ultimately create a financial system that grows your money automatically.

Bitcoin surged again in August, thrusting cryptocurrencies into the spotlight once more. The industry is large enough now that major investors take it seriously. Even a nation, El Savador, is adopting Bitcoin as its national currency. But before it becomes truly mainstream, it’ll need to address some basic problems, like criminality and susceptibility to cyberattacks.

Cryptocurrencies’ popularity in the US spiked in 2021 but was grounded almost as quickly the following year, when lead cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. Since then the crypto industry has continued to unravel, leading many to ask whether it’s on its last legs.

The cryptocurrency industry has been marked by volatility, bankruptcies, and scandals, and after the recent implosion of crypto exchange FTX, many are calling for long-overdue regulation. Regulators face challenges writing laws for the industry, though, as no one can agree on some fundamental aspects of it: Is crypto a currency, a commodity, or a security? And how do you regulate a decentralized global industry where no one is in charge?

There are three kinds of dangerous investor attitudes—fear of missing out, anxious reactiveness, and inertia that stops you from investing at all. These feelings can drive you to make rash, emotional, expensive decisions and potentially contribute to a bubble. Here's how to deal with them.

The world’s greatest investor Warren Buffett read this book when he was 19 years old, and he still calls this “by far the best book about investing ever written.” The Intelligent Investor covers timeless ideas of how the market behaves, how investment is different from speculation, and how to identify profitable investments.

Learn whether you’re a defensive or an aggressive investor, why most trading strategies don’t work, and how to maintain control of your psychology in any type of market condition.

Most of us assume financial success depends on education and intelligence. But in The Psychology of Money, finance expert Morgan Housel presents an alternate hypothesis: The key to financial success lies in understanding human behavior. Housel posits that when you understand how emotions and beliefs influence your financial decisions, you’ll make better financial decisions.

In this guide, we compare Housel’s advice with that of other finance experts and supplement his ideas with concrete recommendations. You’ll learn why people fail to achieve financial success and what’s behind your desire for money. You’ll also learn what to include in a financial strategy, how to create one you can follow for decades, how to follow it through those decades—and how to pay attention to the information you need to do so.

The Wealthy Barber is David Chilton’s bestselling guide to becoming financially successful by following a handful of simple, easy-to-understand principles. These principles are illustrated using a fictional story about a teacher, an auto plant worker, and a small business owner who seek financial guidance from a barber who’s become wealthy by following the lessons he imparts.

Unlike some books on personal finance, The Wealthy Barber is not one size fits all: Chilton advises, for example, that you should only buy a house if it’s right for you, that day-to-day spending choices like whether to order take-out don’t matter too much if you’re implementing big-picture financial planning, and that not everyone needs life insurance.

Our guide compares and contrasts Chilton’s approach with those outlined in other popular personal finance books, such as The Simple Path to Wealth and The Total Money Makeover. We also provide background on developments in the financial and housing markets since the book was published.

Brandon Turner’s The Book on Rental Property Investing is an educational guide to effectively locating, buying, and managing real estate properties. Turner identifies the major pitfalls new investors encounter, and he suggests how to profitably overcome these challenges by working smarter, not harder.

Turner is a real estate investor with hundreds of income-earning properties. He’s also a bestselling author and a former host of Bigger Pockets, a real estate investment podcast. In this guide, we’ll cover Turner’s detailed approach to each stage of the rental property investment process, as well as explore overarching strategies to help new investors think professionally about their portfolios. In our commentary, we’ll provide further advice on various elements of the rental property investment process, such as handling paperwork and securing a good agent.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of the best-selling financial books in history, selling over 35 million copies. The premise: when growing up, author Robert Kiyosaki had two dads advising him: 1) a Stanford-educated PhD who followed traditional career thinking and was financially illiterate (the Poor Dad, his biological father); 2) a high school dropout who built a business empire employing thousands (the Rich Dad, his best friend’s father).

The two dads are a parable for two different approaches to wealth: Poor Dad recommends getting a secure job with good benefits and retiring with a pension. Rich Dad recommends amassing assets that make money for you, becoming financially literate, and practicing independent thinking.

In this book, learn how to achieve financial independence, why it’s a terrible idea to see your home as your biggest investment, and how to overcome the biggest mental blocks to becoming wealthy.

Does thinking about your personal finances make your palms start to sweat? If so, you’re not alone. The sheer amount of information out there about managing your finances is overwhelming, especially for people in their 20s or 30s who are just starting their financial journeys. Ramit Sethi is a self-taught expert in personal finance whose goal is to help you cut through the noise of conflicting and overly technical financial advice, get past your own hang-ups around money, and take small steps toward a “rich life”—whatever that looks like for you.

In this summary, you’ll learn how to use credit cards wisely, choose the right bank accounts and investment accounts, plan out your spending, and ultimately create a financial system that grows your money automatically.