I often get asked what are some of the books I have read over the years to get started with investing. There are so many different schools of thought on investing. I will be the first to tell you that there isn't a one sized fits all solution - investing is a PERSONAL idea and depends on several factors, including your risk tolerance, goals, and knowledge/comfort with investing concepts. These take time to learn, and I won't lie and say that it's always fun and sexy to learn about finance. However, for those looking to learn more about finance, here are a few books that I would recommend to get started. These are the three best books I've read on investing across different stages of experience.
The Basics of Finance and Investing
This book is a very easy read and makes sense of some of nuances of investing. Investing is all about common sense. Owning a diversified portfolio of stocks and holding it for the long term is a winner’s game. Trying to beat the stock market is theoretically a zero-sum game (for every winner, there must be a loser), but after the substantial costs of investing are deducted, it becomes a loser’s game. John C. (“Jack”) Bogle is the founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the world’s first index fund, and The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is a top recommendation of Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of our time.
Digging a Bit Deeper into Finance Theory
This book gets into more details of the investing game overall. It outlines how there are really two types of investors - active and passive. Being an active investor means you're "actively" trying to find stocks to beat the overall "market" (when I say market, I mean an index that tracks the overall market, typically the S&P500 index). Passive investors simply put their money in an index fund and let it track the overall market.
I am Ready To Nerd Out on Finance
The quote at the top of this book says it all. This book is a dense read (don't say I didn't warn you!) but this walks through the thought process of how to find, value, and purchase investments that provide you with a "margin of safety" for your investments. It takes some time to absorb, and this one is really for folks who want to really take the time and effort to invest in individual securities.