The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

Not the only one, but very helpful, very readable. It changed my way of looking at investing and preparing for retirement.

I was concerned about picking up this updated version, having read the first one in the 70s when Tobias first wrote it, but was not disappointed for going through this quick read again. I picked it up because several of my 20-something children were asking for some good references as they begin their investing lives, and was vetting it to see if I might recommend it.

Tobias has updated it, and he speaks plainly about what has changed and what has stayed the same. I found the earlier parts of the book the most useful as they spoke to personal finance and planning. The latter part of the book focused on the stock market, and while very important to the investor, because of my age and experience in the market I was bored. I suspect that if show more my children read it that they too will be bored by those parts, and may skip over them. They really shouldn't, as they can learn something from Tobias here, but I found myself wondering if someone more "Cramer-like," bombastic, loud...might resonate more. I didn't find it the perfect book to recommend for those 20-somethings, but lacking a good substitute I suppose I will with appropriate caveats. show less

Humorous overview of getting estate in order as well as general information on how to approach the stock market. Financial quips to help hold up your end of conversation. If you need a break from the serious side of investment, read this book.

I was expecting this book to be dry and boring, and hard to get through, since I suck at reading non-fiction. But I was pleasantly surprised. Yes there are some boring parts (bonds, tax strategies, zzzzz), but overall Andrew Tobias lays out all your investing options in a clear manner, and he's not afraid to come right out and tell you NOT to invest in some of them. I gleaned a good amount of advice from the book and hopefully will be putting it to good use in the future.

I have a lot of personal finance/investment books, but this one is the best or close to it. Tobias writes in an entertaining style to keep you reading and includes lots of great info. He explains all kinds of bonds and stock investment strategies that no other book I've read does. He also includes info on retirement plans, college saving plans, etc and has a very good section on how to teach kids about money. If you want to read about personal investing, this is the book!!!

2.5! rating will probably change since this is the first book I've read about investing, and I don't know what else is out there.

bleh:

-too long,
-lots of jargon
-confusing
-too many stories (where is the substance?)
- title bold, considering that if you're young or just getting into stocks, the book is too esoterically written to understand
-overall opinion rather than.... well, something other than an overall opinion.

ok, yeah:

-charismatic
-quips
-some ok (if not obvious) tips on managing your money wisely (buy bulk, live within your means, don't buy a yatch etc. etc.)

um? :

-opinion section on taxes and politics
-specific investment suggestions (don't know enough to comment on if they're good or not)
-statistics and other examples that I haven't show more looked into show less

I feel there are a lot of personal retirement books out there and this is just another one of them. They do a good job in the beginning showing different ways on the web to save money. That was at least a little helpful