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    The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor
    The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor
    The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor
    Ebook179 pages2 hours

    The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor

    By Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis

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    About this ebook

    An updated look at best rules of investing provided by two of the world's greatest financial thinkers

    In the updated edition of The Elements of Investing, authors Charles Ellis and Burton Malkiel—two of the world's greatest financial thinkers—have again combined their talents to produce a straight-talking book about investing and saving. Written with every investor in mind, this reliable resource will put you on a path towards a lifetime of financial success.

    Page by page, Malkiel and Ellis skillfully focus their message to address the essentials and offer a set of simple, but powerful thoughts on how to avoid Mr. Market and his "loser's game," and instead enjoy the "winner's" approach to investing. All the investment rules and principles you need to succeed are here—with clear advice on how to follow them.

    • Shows you how to focus on the long term instead of following market fluctuations that are likely to lead to costly investing mistakes
    • Contains investment insights that can carry you all the way to, and through, retirement
    • Written by Burton G. Malkiel, the bestselling author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and Charles D. Ellis, the bestselling author of Winning the Loser's Game

    A disciplined approach to investing, complemented by understanding, is all you need to enjoy success. This practical guide explains what you really need to know and puts you on the right course for long-term success through all kinds of markets.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWiley
    Release dateDec 19, 2012
    ISBN9781118553749
    The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor

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    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Great book, simple and easy to understand book like KISS.
    • 5/5
      Must read ??investing strategies made short and simple for everyone

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book is like a combination of common sense investing by John c bolge and the intelligent investor by Benjamin graham and some finance books mixed together. I absolutely loved this book and is just a well rounded books that gives you the basics for investing well and managing ur money well. Absolutely perfect, words cannot describe.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Simple, fast read covering the sheer basics of investing in the stock market. In short, buy index funds. Skip purchasing of individual funds and invest early in your retirement. A good beginner's book to investing.

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    Book preview

    The Elements of Investing - Burton G. Malkiel

    CONTENTS

    Preface to Updated Edition

    Foreword

    Introduction

    It all Starts with Saving

    Chapter I: Save

    First do No Harm

    Start Saving Early: Time is Money

    The Amazing Rule of 72

    Savvy Savings

    Small Savings Tips

    Big Ways to Save

    Let the Government Help You Save

    Own Your Home

    How do I Catch Up?

    Chapter II: Index

    Nobody Knows More than the Market

    The Index Fund Solution

    Don’t Some Beat the Market?

    Index Bonds

    Index Internationally

    Index Funds have Big Advantages

    One Warning

    Confession

    Chapter III: Diversify

    Diversify Across Asset Classes

    Diversify Across Markets

    Diversify Over Time

    Rebalance

    Chapter IV: Avoid Blunders

    Overconfidence

    Beware of Mr. Market

    The Penalty of Timing

    More Mistakes

    Minimize Costs

    Chapter V: Keep It Simple

    Review of Basic Rules

    Asset Allocation

    Asset Allocation Ranges

    Investing in Retirement

    Getting Specific

    Chapter VI: Timeless Lessons for Troubled Times

    Volatility and Dollar-Cost Averaging

    Diversification is Still a Time-Honored Strategy to Reduce Risk

    Rebalancing

    Diversification and Rebalancing Together

    Index at least the Core of Your Portfolio

    Fine-Tuning a Bond Diversification Strategy

    A Final Thought

    A Super Simple Summary: KISS Investing

    Appendix: Save on Taxes Legally

    Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

    Roth IRAs

    Pension Plans

    Tax-Advantaged Saving for Education

    Recommended Reading

    Acknowledgments

    About the Authors

    Index

    Cover design: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Copyright © 2013 by Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis. All rights reserved.

    Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

    First Edition published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2010.

    Published simultaneously in Canada.

    No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

    Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

    For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

    Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

    ISBN 978-1-118-48487-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-55374-9 (ebk);

    ISBN 978-1-118-55375-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-63294-9 (ebk)

    To our delightful grandchildren, Porter, Mackie, George, Jade, Morgan, Charles, and Ray

    PREFACE TO UPDATED EDITION

    At her death in 1999, at the age of 91, Oseola McCarty bequeathed $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. For her generosity, she received an honorary degree from the university and the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest civilian award in the United States. Her gift was all the more extraordinary because she earned her living washing clothes.

    At a very young age, Ms. McCarty was taught by her mother to be a great saver. She made tradeoffs, spending what she needed to live on, but forgoing any luxuries. She had a used TV, but only watched shows that she could pick up over the airwaves. She did not own a car, electing to walk everywhere. She lived in a house that she inherited from her uncle. Over the course of her lifetime, she amassed a remarkable nest egg, estimated to be about $250,000.

    Ms. McCarty was the very model of a disciplined saver. Her example shows that a little bit of will power—and yes, thrift—can add up to big things. This is Lesson No. 1 in any sound financial plan, and it is Lesson No. 1 in this wonderful book by Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis.

    Over the past several decades, Malkiel’s Random Walk Down Wall Street and Ellis’s Winning the Loser’s Game have helped millions of people to understand the fundamentals of investing and to reach their financial goals. In Elements of Investing, Malkiel and Ellis distill their wisdom and experience into a sensible plan for people to save and invest.

    Some money managers warn that successful investing can be carried out only by the most sophisticated and talented professionals. And, of course, these managers claim to be members of that small club. Malkiel and Ellis argue that successful investing should not be the province of a select few. Football games are not always won by the best quarterback. They are won in the trenches. Investors have to win the war of blocking and tackling.

    Elements of Investing provides a road map that can multiply your savings to reach your financial target. It starts with understanding the answers to some basic questions, like when will you need this money? And how well can you tolerate investment risk? The answers to those questions can help you build an appropriate asset allocation between stocks, bonds, and cash.

    It should be a balanced approach, and the investments should be broadly diversified. Most importantly, the authors stress that the investments must be low cost. One certainty about investing is that, for a given return, the more you spend to earn it, the less of it you will keep. The authors conclude that the best way to implement your plan is to invest in low-cost index funds.

    This approach is certainly not sexy. Blocking and tackling is not sexy. But, I daresay that most investors would be better off if they followed this strategy. Indeed, it’s the kind of approach that we espouse at Vanguard. It has served many clients very well over the years.

    This updated edition of Elements of Investing brings a clear-eyed perspective to the current environment, including a new chapter describing the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and its impact on the way people are rethinking their approach to investing. Pundits bombard us with claims that the old rules no longer apply. They say that we are in a protracted environment of low returns and high volatility, and that people should abandon buy-and-hold investing and become more opportunistic. Malkiel and Ellis take umbrage with these claims, and at Vanguard, so do we.

    The authors reaffirm the views they expressed in the first edition and they provide supporting evidence. Diversification, rebalancing, dollar-cost averaging, and low-cost indexing remain the best path to achieve investment success.

    This book is a must-read for all investors—those new to investing and those who have been at it for a while. It should be required reading in high school because the power of compounding is particularly valuable at a young age. But veteran investors will also benefit from reading this book as it debunks many misconceptions and identifies behavioral biases that stand in the way of successful investing. And, just to make sure you do not fall prey to the siren’s song of a better way, you should reread this book every several years.

    Over the course of my career, I’ve seen time and again how the simple principles discussed in this book have helped ordinary people achieve extraordinary results.

    George U. Gus Sauter

    Chief Investment Officer, Vanguard

    October 2012

    FOREWORD

    In The Elements of Investing, Charley Ellis and Burt Malkiel, two of the investment world’s greatest thinkers, combine their talents to produce a remarkable guide to personal finance. Having already written two of the finest books on financial markets, Ellis’s Winning the Loser’s Game and Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street, why should the authors revisit the subject of their already classic volumes? The sad fact is that in the cacophony of advice for individual investors, few sane voices are raised. In writing The Elements of Investing, the authors provide an important service to the lay reader, honing their message to the bare essentials by heeding Albert Einstein’s dictum that everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

    Investors have three tools to deploy in the portfolio management process—asset allocation, market timing, and security selection. Asset allocation involves setting long-term targets for each of the asset classes in which an investor invests. Market timing consists of short-term bets against the long-term asset allocation targets. Security selection deals with the construction of the asset classes that an investor chooses

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