The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing: A Book for Procrastinators, the Financially Challenged, and Everyone Who Worries about Dealing with Their Money

by Paul B. Farrell

Book Overview

Farrell, a writer for CBS MarketWatch.com, is the author of The Winning Portfolio, a Money Book-of-the-Month Club bestseller, and Mutual Funds on the Net. This new book clearly shows that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446693871
• ISBN13: 9780446693875
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Business Plus
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Thanks to this book, I found Dodge & Cox Fund just in time

This is a no BS review. I am a 23 yr old, graduated w. business degree from university, trying to find a way to save my money while working at some crappy job in a huge company. 401k is limited but i do invest. I read this book and LOVED how it was straight to the point w/out any bull. He tells you EXACTLY what to invest in for each portfolio and has the avg returns. Lazy investing will make you more money in the long run with less stress. I hate when people say.."oh your young, you can handle more risk." Why? because i have more years to work my a$$ off. NO THANKS! I like secure safe investments the same as a 50 yr old. Thanks to this book i got in on DODBX dodge and Cox Balanced Fund the MOST ULTIMATE laziest portfolio (hybrid fund) in the book. Now it is closed to new investors, but stick with the Vanguard index and bond fund. Also, fyi Fidelity has a spartan fund that has an even lower expense ratio of .10 instead of Vanguard's .18, but Vanguard's expense ratio has been like that forever, whereas Spartan's exp ratio was recently changed to .10 to directly compete and you never know what those Fidelity people will do? This book gets 10 stars!! Other books that totally helped out were: Automatic Millionaire> setup everything automated so you dont have to think twice about investing!!! duhhh <br /> <br />Richest Man in Bablyon> similiar read but great classic/story <br /> <br />Rich Dad Poor Dad> started me on this road to thinking about RE and investing seriously ..gonna take my RE license in march for own investing!

The 'Keep it Simple Stupid' Method for Lazy People

Over the last two years I have researched various books and magazines for investment opportunities. Some of the articles from quite popular magazines (e.g. Kiplinger's and Money) were way on the far side of the investment world. Several books I had investigated were, to put it mildly, a waste of time and money. This is not the case with this book.As far as personal finance books are concerned, this has been one of the best I have ever read. The advice is easy to read and comprehend. The content is simple, direct, and not filled with all the jargon and hype that can give the average 'lazy' investor a major headache. Having already invested in several 401k ventures, and tracking several stock options over the years, as well as delving into several other investment opportunities, I can truly say that Farrell is right on target, and the research he has done in this book is good advice. In fact, I plan to put it into practice within the next two months from the date this review was written.The plan is easy, it involves only two investments (how's that for diversity) in two strong funds, and a little bit of tweaking each year. This is all I will say about the main gist of the book. I do not want to give away the details because you really need to read the book to understand the plan to its fullest extent. Farrell details how you can put this plan into practice in a very easy step by step procedure.The above, however, is not the only thing Farrell discusses in this book. He details the benefits of 410ks, what certain things mean in the trading world (e.g. S & P 500, Bull Market, Bear Market, Blue Chips, tax benefits in certain investments, etc.), how to invest without paying brokers, and much more. Therefore, when it comes to investing, if you are as green as the fairways for a professional golf tournament, then you will gain a much better understanding of the investment world. However, if you are a seasoned investor, you will learn just as much since, as Farrell says, you were probably taught to do certain things that can cause major pitfalls in your investing (i.e. the Wall Street way). Thus, this book is great for the beginner and the expert and I highly recommend it.

Outstanding book for investment novices

If you are a novice looking for a book that will help you to better understand what it means to invest and save for the future, then this book is for you. If you are looking for something that is more in depth about stock trading, then look elsewhere.This book provides excellent advice for long-term investors who are either looking for someplace to invest while they learn how to design their own portfolio or who really want to put their money in the market and leave it alone for the long term. It is easy to read and gives readers confidence to go out and enter the market for the first time or to adjust current investments based on long-term goals.

An investment guide even I could understand!

Farrell lays it all out -- no-load funds, DRIPs, asset allocation, large caps, small caps, you name it -- in a manner that even I, an ignoramus when it comes to finance and investment, could follow. Now, just as soon as I get some money together, I'll know what to do with it! A great -- and useful -- book.

This is a great book for all levels of investors!

This is a great book for all levels of investors! I really liked this easy to read and understand book. Dr. Farrell covers all of the easy to use and highly efficient investment portfolios we recommend at Suite101.com. Starting with the simple "Couch Potato Portfolio" Farrell expands to "coffee house portfolio" and many others. Key to the portfolios he presents is they are all low cost and tax efficient. Farrell also explains why these beat the majority of mutual funds over time. At the very end of the book Farrell talks of having two brains where you let one brain actively manage 10% of your funds while you index the other 90% according to one of the techniques taught in the book. This is exactly the investment methodology I recommend at Suite101. I know that even the best indexers are well known to have ten or twenty percent "mad money" in a self managed account. We all like to think we are "smarter than average" so this method allows us to try and prove it while sticking to proven techniques Farrell presents with the majority of our investments.Kirk LindstromEditor: Investing & Personal Finance @ Suite101.comhttp://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/investing