MarketWatch Site Logo A link that brings you back to the homepage. .mwA1{fill:#ffffff;} .mwA2{fill:#4db74d;} Home How To Invest How to Invest How to Invest These 5 great, easy-to-read books about money will change how you think about investing Last Updated: Nov. 23, 2021 at 7:02 p.m. ET First Published: Nov. 17, 2021 at 11:12 a.m. ET By Howard Gold Bogle, Ellis, the history of manias and the psychology of money can get new investors on the right track ISTOCKPHOTO Email icon Facebook icon Twitter icon Linkedin icon Flipboard icon Print icon Resize icon Maybe you’re automatically funneling payroll deductions into your 401(k) account. Or you’ve dabbled in crypto or, God forbid, bought a meme stock or two on Robinhood. But tweets, articles from Google searches and Instagram screenshots of stock charts aren’t enough to make you a good investor; you need to go deeper. And going deeper means reading books. There are many great books about investing, many fewer about personal finance. But not all are suitable for the novice investor. Advertisement I’ve picked four every new investor should read about investing and one must-read on personal finance. They’re all easy to read, too. ‘The Little Book of Common Sense Investing’ by John Bogle Most of the media and Wall Street call Warren Buffett the most influential investor of the past century. But as Buffett’s star and performance fade, the legacy of John Bogle, pioneer of the index fund and founder of Vanguard (which now manages more than $7 trillion), towers above his. Even Buffett conceded Bogle’s creation had surpassed his own: he recommends investing in index funds and is instructing his heirs to put 90% of their money into them, too. This compact volume distills Bogle’s decades of investment wisdom into barely more than 200 pages. It sounds the main notes of this investing giant’s philosophy: Choosing winning stocks or actively managed mutual funds is folly; instead, buy the most broadly diversified index funds, keep costs to a minimum and let the twin miracles of steady investing and compounding do the rest. More on the power of compounding: To get rich investing, the power of time beats a lucky stock pick ‘Winning the Loser’s Game’ by Charles D. Ellis The eighth edition of this investment classic, originally published in 1985, arrived earlier this year, and its author sat down for a Q&A with MarketWatch. Ellis was a Bogle disciple (he served on Vanguard’s board and co-chaired Yale’s investment committee with the late, great David Swensen) and he makes the argument for low-cost index funds from a different angle: Not only can’t individuals win the loser’s game of beating the market; even professionals can’t. So-called mediocre index funds beat 75% of all funds. And investors ultimately become winners by not losing. More: Investors love to boast about their great stock picks, but beware of those who use fancy math to calculate their gains ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions’ and the Madness of Crowds’ by Charles Mackay and ‘Manias, Panics and Crashes’ by Charles P. Kindleberger These two investing classics together recount some of the biggest manias in modern market history from Tulipmania to the South Sea Bubble (which almost ruined one of the great minds in human history, Sir Isaac Newton) to the 1929 stock market crash and beyond. Advertisement Mackay’s account is historical while Kindleberger, a former professor at MIT, is more analytical, though the book is quite readable. Kindleberger lays out how crises develop, as lending loosens and speculation soars, and the anecdotes in both books should provide ample warning about the current excesses in everything. But since many investors don’t have the imagination to connect the dots, I suspect they won’t. “Popular delusions begin so early, spread so widely, and have lasted so long,” wrote Mackay, “that…fifty volumes would scarcely suffice to detail their history.” These two, however, will more than do the job. ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel When I looked for good personal finance books, however, I felt like Diogenes roaming the streets of Athens with a candle trying to find an honest man. (Spoiler alert: He’s still looking.) What’s out there is often promotional and poorly written. Whether it’s “get debt free” as in Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” or drive used Buicks and keep pinching pennies no matter how rich you get, as in “The Millionaire Next Door,” these books push One Big Idea that will solve your financial problems. They are like articles in the defunct print magazines Money or SmartMoney puffed out to full-length books. Advertisement Writers like Terry Savage and Liz Pulliam Weston, whom I know and respect, as well as Jane Bryant Quinn have written some fine broad-based personal finance books. These women pioneered personal finance journalism and you can’t go wrong with anything they’ve written. But for that one book to read, I’d recommend “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. Instead of a chore, this book was a joy to read. Housel, a former columnist for The Motley Fool, throws a lot of conventional wisdom out the window and says the way you think about money is just as important as what you do with it. He also says dumb luck is a big factor in people’s success, the biggest market-moving events are always unpredictable and the goal of financial planning should be survival. “The ability to stick around for a long time, without wiping out or being forced to give up, is what makes the biggest difference,” he writes. Starting out early is critical, Housel explains, and if you’re a new investor, these books are a great place to begin. Plus: Become a better investor by subscribing to MarketWatch newsletters. Howard Gold writes about investing and retirement for MarketWatch. More from MarketWatch’s ‘How to Invest’ series These are the most important things to check on a stock’s quote page before deciding whether to buy or sell You can beat your fear of losing money with bonds as interest rates rise — if you understand this one thing When is it worth hiring someone to manage your money? Read Next No matter your age, here’s how to tell if your finances are on the right track There's no one-size-fits-all approach. But to put your head in the sand is perhaps the worst strategy of all. More On MarketWatch To get rich investing, the power of time beats a lucky stock pick These are the most important things to check on a stock’s quote page before deciding whether to buy or sell When is it worth hiring someone to manage your money? About the Author Howard Gold Howard Gold writes the "No-Nonsense Investing" column for MarketWatch. Follow him on Twitter @howardrgold. Advertisement Advertisement Partner Center Most Popular No matter your age, here’s how to tell if your finances are on the right track Will Biden administration releasing 50 million barrels of oil lower gas prices? Don’t hold your breath Americans increasingly say they don’t plan to have kids — this is the No. 1 reason why Why the new tax law caused a 'perfect storm' for Roth IRA conversions HP stock surges as sales, earnings blow past Street estimates PARTNER CONTENT PARTNER CONTENT BACK TO TOP MarketWatch logoGo to the homepage Copyright © 2021 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. 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