Investing For Dummies (2024)

Finish this on the flight back from Cancun. It takes some humility to read "for dummies" books but I actually learned a ton and felt that it provided a very comprehensive, easy-to-understand explanation of conservative investing principles. I learned about ETF's, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, real estate investing, small biz investing, and general principles such as diversification and risk tolerance. Tyson could have organized the book a bit better (sometimes this issue is exacerbated when reading on Kindle because you can't easily find old notes or chapters), but his writing style seems relatively unbiased and it is great to learn about all the different sources of bias in financial brokerage firms and media coverage. Highly recommend for any millennial seeking to take control of his or her finances.

This book goes into extreme detail about the different aspects of investing and assumes that the reader is starting from scratch which was ideal for me. The book is divided into sections including stocks, index/mutual funds, real estate, and property. I focused on the first two sections since that's what I'm interested in right now and the book did a good job of explaining the difference between the different kinds of funds in the market. I used this book as a Kickstarter to do more research on my own about funds online.

Really helped me understand basic personal finance. Soon after reading, I opened a Roth IRA. I also changed my investment strategy in my 401k, and I began investing in some of the funds that Eric suggests across all accounts. The book does a great job of simplifying information and making data-driven investment suggestions. I’d highly recommend it to anybody trying to get a better understand of how to schedule their investments.

I didn't finish this book, but it doesn't look like I'm going to. It's not a laugh a minute, but it does give a clear picture of investing in general, including some decent advice. I do wish there had been a section on Socially Responsible Investing, though, since that is mostly what I try to do.

Boring but had to be done :/

Overall, this is a good starting point for a "dummy" - anyone with little to no idea about the several ways in which people can invest money. If you are looking for advice or a reference book about a specific type of investment, you're better off sticking to a book that is specifically about real estate, small business, or whatever venture you're looking to get into as it would provide more depth than what Tyson is capable of covering under such a broad title.

The book covers several different types of investments, beginning with stocks. As someone with a new interest in investing, the content was mostly easy to digest and didn't suffer much from dryness. However, if you have no interest whatsoever in the topic and are only reading it because you feel a responsibility to do something with your money, you may struggle to get through it. Regardless, it's something you should power through anyway - your finances will be much better off for it.

I read an outdated edition from 2011, but there are still a lot of useful investing principles that still apply today. It's also US-centric, so if you're not from the US it's probably better to find an equivalent introductory book for your country.

Despite the general good advice, there are a couple of some eyebrow-raising aspects to this book. I noted a section midway through where Tyson strongly advocated for a particular investment service company that spanned across an entire page, which read like an advertisem*nt rather than his other briefer recommendations. He also states that you absolutely "need" life insurance if you have dependents, which is questionable (perhaps this is good advice for US citizens, but certainly not all countries).

Overall it's a good start, especially if you're from America. Don't be like me and settle for an older copy: grab the most recent version, educate yourself about investing, and put your money to work!

Being an idiot I found this a very easy read to get to grips with the basics of investing & the various forms of putting your money to work for you

Some would say this is the only book I’ve read WORTH reading lol

Watch out, Wall Street! Armed with "Investing For Dummies," I am prepared to bedazzle the world with my investing prowess. Send me to New York. I'll bedazzle them all, I say! Joking aside, I chose to read this book because I know almost nothing about investing. The "Dummies" moniker had me sold. Give me a financial book that assumes I have absolutely zero background knowledge. That is what I need.

Since I have no experience, I can't really tell you if "Investing for Dummies" is good advice. It does seem in keeping with other advice I have heard. Overall, I found the book to be accessible, well organized, and true to the promise of being for dummies.

My only complaint is that, like all investment advisors, the author does not provide any real idea what kind of risk is involved in the prospect. What percentage of investments fail? What are the odds my business will fail? Tyson treats risk in some hand-wavey ways. But I think there are some concrete details that can better crystallize just what someone is in for. For example, Tyson promises that, on average, the stock market pays you about 9 cents for every dollar you invest. That's baloney! The actual historical returns depend very, very much over what time period you average. The average return looks very different depending on whether I average over 1985-2007 or 1987-2009. A more useful statement would be to say that the stock market returns something between 5-11% or something like that.

Read this book to learn some money saving tips and basic investing. Tyson covers many different methods of investing like bonds, real estate, stocks, money markets, etc. Some thing I was not expecting was the simple yet most effective investment possible: Investing in your health and mental/physical well being. Tyson says eating healthy, exercising, and avoiding unhealthy habits like smoking and alcohol consumption could go a long way in extending your life and substantially improving your financial future.

Another interesting piece of advice he gives: Always know what or who you are saving money for. He said many people aspire to be frugal but they accumulate wealthy which they tend not to use for hobbies and things they love. So if you save thousands of dollars every month be sure to allocate a portion of that to spend for music, films, NBA games, restaurant food, or any thing you take pleasure in.

I recommend this book especially for college kids and those who are interested in improving their financial future and overall life quality.

This is a solid 3.5 stars. A good first read if you are starting at the beginning. I now know what direction I want to move in to invest my money and I learned some new things.

The tone is very conversational and easy to understand. I'd say the small business section at the back part is the least useful and most basic, and that really the discussion of mutual finds and stocks and investing make up the best portion of this book.

I still feel the need to do some further reading, but I feel like with a little online research just this book wouldn't be too bad if someone had some extra money to put away and had no idea what to do with it.

First book I read about Eryc Tyson, and I must say now I want to read other of his "For Dummies" books about finances.

A good book to serve as overview of the main classes of investing: stocks, real estate, and small business.

He does not dwelve much on the complexities of the financial stuff, like options and futures, or about other things like commodities and collectibles.

In short, he supplies some basic tips for you to start your path in any of the three most basic and kind of safe paths.

A good "For Dummies" book, that has given me a nice direction to follow for stock investments.

När jag skaffade privatekonomi-bundeln var jag rätt säker på att jag kunde allt, men att det var klokt att dubbelkolla. Nu är jag rätt glad över det. Denna bok innehåller inget som jag inte kände till, i huvudet, men den formulerade saker på ett sätt som gav mig lite fler samband. Framförallt kring optionshandel och teknisk analys (som boken är kritisk till). Jag rekommenderar den för de som vill se om sitt hus - eller som funderar på att skaffa ett större.

This book is great if you are brand new to investing or new to the stock Market. It gives you all the basics in a clear to understand format. If you already know the basics I’m not sure this book will do much for you. I don’t think I learned very much and their were whole sections I just skimmed because they had to do with topics that don’t really apply to or interest me.

Hard to understand.

Super super dry. Was trapped on a train for hours. Informative though

A nice and easy to understand guide to the principles of investing, super useful if you live in the USA and great if you don’t.

Käytiin laajasti läpi monenlaiset sijoituskohteet. Huomioitavat veroasiat koskivat tietenkin vain Yhdysvaltoja, mutta oli kiinnostavaa lukea niistäkin miten poikkeavat Suomen käytännöistä.

Packed with great info on investing, presented in an easy to read and digest format.

Good content and good advice. I read the 4th edition, and it needs updating and restructuring. I would delete the sections about entrepreneurship (and put that content in a different book), delete much of the real estate management content (and replace it with information about more accessible ways to invest in real estate such as REITs, etc), and I would DEFINITELY move the final few sections, where Tyson correctly warns against getting investing advice from the TV or radio, toward the front of the book.

Good book, with a lot of good information. Overwhelming at times. This is a book that I'll need to go back and read a couple of times. I've gotten through the initial run-thru, but I would like to sit and go through it again, maybe slower, looking into the charts and attachments that Eric references.

A solid foundational book on investing (including everything from stocks/bonds/mutual funds to real estate and small business). Like all Dummies books, covers a lot of ground but not very deeply for the most part.

It advocated a to safe strategy for my tastes so it was unhelpful in what I needed it for. However it helped me create a strategy for my g.f.

As someone just making a start in investing I found this book to be incredibly helpful and practical.

Pretty good intro in the world of investing- very pragmatic.

Da rileggere

Quick & educational read

This was the first big book I’ve ever actually completed as a goal set out in my New Years resolutions to read a book a month in 2021. I finished this book on the last day of January completing my goal. The main reason I chose this book was because I’ve always wondered how I could become an investor and if it was even possible for someone with no experience in the area. This book gave me a valuable overview of all the areas of investment, rather than going into too much detail it dropped you into all the different areas to give you an idea of what you would like to look into further, while providing valuable links. I’ve personally now started investing on the back of this with small amounts of money that I’m happy with and the book will talk you through how to do this. My favourite section was actually something I was going to skip over and this was the section on pensions. After reading this I’m really glad I did, it gave me a much stronger knowledge of how to prepare for future retirement and how starting early can be much better for your future self. The only reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars was the lack of diagrams and images, I feel as though some of the sections could have been broken down into nice diagrams to make the content more engaging and make it easier to remember. Although the book did give useful notes and tips in sections which did help, the diagrams and images would have given it my extra star.

This review was inspired by my annotations. To view all my detailed annotations you are welcome to join my Patreon page (John Lawchamp). For $0.99 you can read my favorite lines and excerpts from the book with additional personal thoughts. The annotations are released once the review of that book has been posted on Goodreads. Why spend $15.00 on a book you are not invested in when you can explore the main topics for a fraction of the price? Visit Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Lawchamp

John Lawchamp’s Review:
A 5 of 5 for the depth that Eric put in this book. It covers everything of everything to do with investing, even to investing in real estate, from a beginner to a professional level, such as commercial housing. If you were a Dummy like me when it comes to investing, this book is for you. However, if you know the basics, understand how it all works, this might not be the informative book for you. In other words, if you the one making money through some type of investment, you know what you are doing. If you are not making money, take this book and read it.
I will say that I did not understand everything, but also know that with things like this there is a learning curve. You actually have to put in the work to understand how it all function.

I enjoyed this. Short and sweet. Straight to the point. Light read.

I unfortunately didn't really learn anything new or earth shattering that I have not already been exposed to.

Comes with the standard:
- Don't buy a new car, buy used.
- Home loans are OK and don't pay these off over credit cards/cars/etc..
- You'll never beat the stock market or be able to compete versus full time people who dedicate their lives to managing money (might as well throw in computer algorithms into the mix too).
- Real Estate = tremendous wealth gain opportunity.
- CDs/Stocks/Bonds/Mutual Funds/Risk/Diversity ... all of that good stuff.
- Have an emergency fund.
- Goal establishment, finding balance with future stability versus happiness in the now, etc..

3 stars because I am to the point where I want something a bit more focused, highlighting one particular topic on investing versus board coverage of what is received here.

Perfect entry level investment book.