The Successful Investor Today

14 Simple Truths You Must Know When You Invest

Larry E. Swedroe

• Publisher: Truman Talley Books
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781429909365
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Investments & Securities
• Index: Business

What does it take to achieve superior performance and become a successful investor? Rather than great stock pricing or market timing skills, it is far better for you to understand how the markets work and how to make them work best for you. Larry E. Swedroe argues that the right strategy never changes, no matter whether the bull is stampeding or the bear has emerged from hibernation. The Successful Investor Today was written during one of the greatest bear markets of the post-World War II era--a bear market that was a result of the inevitable bursting of the technology-led bubble of the late 1990s (what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan called "irrational exuberance"). Although millions of investors unnecessarily incurred trillions of dollars in losses, neither this bubble, nor the ensuing devastating losses, were anything new.Despite all the horrible investment experiences that have been reported, those investors who followed the fourteen simple truths outlined in this book--including the building of globally diversified portfolios-did not suffer the devastating losses experienced by many others. The fourteen simple truths withstand the tests of logic and time in the way the stock market really works, rather than the way Wall Street and the media would have you believe it works.Since it is generally held that those who fail to plan, plan to fail, an investor must begin with an investment plan. Your plan should be tailored to conform to your unique ability, willingness, and need to take risk. In The Successful Investor Today, you will learn how to build, write, implement, and manage your investment plan over time. This book will help you become a better and more informed investor, and it will help you achieve your financial goals by gradually increasing your wealth. Apart from offering an up-to-date winning strategy, The Successful Investor Today presents an efficient and proven way to avoid the most common--and costly--mistakes investors continue to make.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• TRUTH 1 - Active Investing Is a Loser’s Game: It Must Be So
• TRUTH 2 - The Past Performance of an Actively Managed Fund Is a Very Poor Predictor of Its Future Performance
• TRUTH 3 - If Skilled Professionals Don’t Succeed, It Is Unlikely That Individual Investors Will
• TRUTH 4 - The Interests of Wall Street and the Financial Media Are Not Aligned with Those of Investors
• TRUTH 5 - Risk and Reward Are Related: Great Companies Provide Low Expected Returns
• TRUTH 6 - The Price You Pay Matters
• TRUTH 7 - The Most Likely Way to Achieve Above Average Returns Is to Stop Trying to Beat the Market
• TRUTH 8 - Buying Individual Stocks and Sector Funds Is Speculating, Not Investing
• TRUTH 9 - Reversion to the Mean of Earnings Growth Rates Is One of the Most Powerful Forces in the Universe
• TRUTH 10 - The Forecasts of Market Strategists and Analysts Have No Value, Except as Entertainment
• TRUTH 11 - Taxes Are Often the Largest Expense Investors Incur
• TRUTH 12 - Knowledge of Financial History Is Critical to Successful Investing
• TRUTH 13 - Adding International Assets to a Portfolio Reduces Risk
• TRUTH 14 - There Is No One Right Portfolio, but There Is One That Is Right for You
• Conclusion
• Also by Larry E. Swedroe
• APPENDIX A - The Enron Debacle: Lessons to Be Learned
• APPENDIX B - More Investment Truths You Must Know to Be a Successful Investor
• APPENDIX C - Investment Vehicle Recommendations
• APPENDIX D - The Home Financing Decision: To Borrow or Not
• Notes
• Glossary
• Suggested Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Notes
• Copyright Page