Ask HN: Simple books and resources would you suggest on investing money? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Simple books and resources would you suggest on investing money?

13 pointsdora_g8 comments

I am a software engineer, few years into the job. Finance was not my subject in school. I probably make more that most of my friends in other industries but have no understanding of how to invest, manage money in the long term and be financially secure now, and at retirement. I don't want to find some guy/financial institute to just handle it, in case they mess this up. What are some basic books or other resources that helped you get better at this?

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The basics are a lot simpler than you might think.

Minimize paying taxes by optimizing or deferring taxes. HSAs, maxing 401k and IRA will get you far here.

As far as particular funds, you can use a robo like Wealthfront / Betterment / etc and just set a risk tolerance or go with a low-cost broker like Vanguard and buy your own ETFs directly. Broad-market ETFs are great.

There are plenty of books out there covering the basics. One I think that provides a pretty concise and broad foundation without being encyclopedic is written by the founder of YNAB called Invest Like a Pro: A 10-Day Investing Course [1] which can be digested in a few hours.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O4G1BBI/ref=dbs_a_def_r...

The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason. A good primer/philosophy for all ages on making and keeping money/wealth.

For stock investing (long term): The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffets mentor!) or anything on 'Value Investing' such as https://www.investopedia.com/investing/warren-buffetts-inves...

For property investment I recommend these: https://www.somersoft.com.au/books.htm

Some of the tax and law details are particular to Australia but the overall strategy would apply anywhere with a few adjustments and calculations.

I just wish I had read these a lot earlier in life BEFORE I went into business for myself! :)

Best of luck!

A Random Walk Street by Burton Malkiel. Very easy to understand and entertaining to read too. The book is basically divided into 2 parts, the 1st about the arguments for market efficiency, and 2nd about practical steps in investing considering the conditions explained in part 1. In it the author argued that there is very little chance for anyone to systematically beat the market, and so the best way to make money in the stock market (in the long run) is by following the market (e.g. by buying an index fund).

"A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market" by Edward O. Thorp

https://www.amazon.com/Man-All-Markets-Street-Dealer/dp/1400...

The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

This book is great. Should be required reading for anyone thinking about pursuing financial independence.

Your Money or Your Life is also great.

"The Wealthy Barber" was a simple but charming introduction into the basics.

A professional financial advisor once recommended to me, "anything by Vanita van Kaspel."

Way of the Wolf - Jordan Belfort

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