The Mamak Stall Investor

Bookshelf

Currently Reading

Book(s) that I read now when I am free.

Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises
by Charles P. Kindleberger and Robert Aliber 

Favourite

Books that I find practical and have applied what I have read to my portfolio.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
by Taylor Larimore, et al.

The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need
by Larry E. Swedroe

The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You’ll Ever Need
by Larry E. Swedroe, Joseph H. Hempen

The Intelligent Asset Allocator
by William Bernstein

All About Asset Allocation
by Richard A. Ferri

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
by John C. Bogle

Your Money and Your Brain
by Jason Zweig

On the Shelf

Some of the books on the shelf that have influenced my investing in one way or the other. Some are read, some unread and some are partially read. Listed in no particular order.

Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe’s Tales to Enrich Your Future 
by Larry Swedroe 

The Intelligent Investor 
by Benjamin Graham 

Common Sense on Mutual Funds
by John C. Bogle

The Four Pillars of Investing
by William Bernstein

A Random Walk Down Wall Street
by Burton G. Malkiel

The Random Walk Guide to Investing
by Burton G. Malkiel

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes
by Gary Belsky, Thomas Gilovich

The Millionaire in You
by Michael Leboeuf

The Birth of Plenty
by William Bernstein

Contrarian Investing
by Anthony M. Gallea and William Patalon

Not on the shelf but I have read them.

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
by Peter L. Bernstein

The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism
by John C. Bogle

Give away

This is one of the first book I bought on investment. While its emphasis on the importance of financial education makes sense to me, its advice on real estate investing is not practical to me and sounds dubious. I have never finished the book and don’t intent to. Anyone wants a free copy, I will be happy to give it away. I wish I was told about this book in the book shop and walked away with a book on indexing instead, like what happened in Reply #8 in this Diehards.org THREAD.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad
by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter

Reading lists

Many of my books come from the reading lists below:

  1. Diehards.org Book of Interest.
  2. The now closed www.yahoo.com/costmatters. The reading list is archived HERE.

3 Comments

3 responses so far ↓

  • Jonny Z // Thursday, 24 January 2008, 7:23 am at 7:23 am | Reply

    Hi Choozm,

    I was just passing through your site. Very nice! You and I have read many of the same books and have a similar investment philosophy.

    I’m 42 and plan on holding my 75/25 mix until I’m about 10 years out from retirement.

    My main account is invested thus:
    VTV 18%
    VUG 12%
    VO 20%
    VEU 20%
    DLS 05%
    BSV 25%

    I have read many investment books and many of them, while very good, I eventually donate away. One book that has stayed on my shelf for a very long while is “The Dummies Guide to ETFs” by Russell Wild. It presents some solid investing ideas and has remained for me my current “all-in-one, go-to reference/reminder book”. You might give it a look (although I’m sure you will be familiar with 95% of the information within).

    For me, that book is my one to recommend (if I could only choose ONE to explain investment theory or how to use ETFs).

    Thanks for letting me share!

    What would be your “one book to recommend”?

    Jonny Z

  • choozm // Friday, 25 January 2008, 1:05 am at 1:05 am | Reply

    Hi Jonny Z,

    Thanks for dropping by. I hope I can use all ETF or index fund for my portfolio, but it is currently not feasible in the country I live.

    My “one book to recommend” would be “The Intelligent Asset Allocator”. It has some very practical ideas that answer many of my doubts when I was planning the portfolio. For people who are new to investing, I would recommend “The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing”. I will check out your “one book to recommend” too. Thanks!

    choozm

  • Jonny Z // Friday, 25 January 2008, 6:57 am at 6:57 am | Reply

    Yes, actually, I change my mind! I think that Bogleheads’ Guide would be a briefer, more straightforward, no-nonsense overview as a first “foundation” book than the Dummies ETF book. The Dummies book covers almost TOO much ground for one book. [Yet, that is what makes it such a great reference manual. ]

    One point where I somewhat diverge with Mr. Wild is how he recommends a 40-50% allocation to “International” (ex US). I have a high regard for the two newsletters “The No-Load Fund Investor” and “The Fidelity Monitor”. The editors for both these letters recommend a 15-25% allocation (maximum) to international in their model portfolios at this time.

    It seems there are two extreme “schools” of investing in in this regard: one recommends a 15-20% allocation to international and the other 40-50% (Siegel, Wild, Merriman). My solution was to go right down the middle with a 30-35% allocation. How’s that for playing both sides! :) Jonny Z

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