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Investing For Dummies, 4th Edition (平装)
by Eric Tyson
| Category:
Personal finance, Investment, Self help |
| Market price: ¥ 238.00
MSL price:
¥ 218.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Written in an easy-to-understand style, this investment guide covers all the basics and is especially good for beginners. |
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AllReviews |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-12 00:00>
I'm a medical student and my loans for my medical education have skyrocketed and realized I need to plan a financially secure future NOW. In addition, I'm pursuing a master's degreee in business. In reading Mr. Tyson's book, I found lots of information that my business courses failed to explain or did explain but at a level way above my head. Like many other people, I would prefer an intimidating subject such as investing to be presented in clear, logical, plain and easily understandable English. Kudos to Eric Tyson for doing just that. I recommend this book especially for those with absolutely NO previous experience or knowledge in investing. |
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Peter Hupalo (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-12 00:00>
Investing for Dummies gives readers, new to investing, some good advice, such as you need to save money to invest, and that you should generally fund tax-deferred retirement plans before paying down a mortgage. Tyson also advises keeping cash reserves, not in ultra-low-yielding bank savings accounts, but in a money market fund. He urges you to seek "ownership" investments, e.g., stocks, real estate, or your own small business, rather then buying bonds or borrowing your nephew money to start his business.
The above advice is common sense, as Tyson admits, and shows up in many good personal finance books. So, what does Tyson offer that the other investing and personal finance books don't?
Well, there are some really funny cartoons. Tyson also covers real estate investing and investing in small business in more detail than most investing books. However, if you contemplate starting a business or buying one, there are far better books to read. Same for real estate.
Of course, a small section devoted to starting a business won't do a complete job of teaching you what you need to know. But, at least "Investing For Dummies" exposes the reader to the small business and real estate possibilities, which many investing books fail to do.
Investing For Dummies also recommends index funds and foreign stock funds, which are very good directions to consider. Tyson, in fact, counsels investors not to buy individual shares of common stock, but, rather, to invest exclusively via mutual funds. Of course, he urges you to keep expenses low and select mutual funds carefully.
It seems Tyson runs out of meaningful investment advice to give and degenerates into promoting his views on tangent issues in several places. For example, he devotes a full section to criticizing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh on issues like global warming. Come again? How does that help us become a better investor?
Tyson later gives a short plug for Handgun Control, Inc., saying its agenda is to "educate" people about the dangers of guns. At least Tyson does a better job of working this into the flow of the book, saying that some people who start businesses have goals besides money. And, non-profits have agendas other than profits. Thanks, Eric. We might have missed that!
OK. Everybody has his or her own ideas, and we can forgive Tyson for straying off the topic, occasionally, but it really galled me when he attacked ham-and-cheese-filled croissants, blaming them for heart attacks. Another story of a restaurant entrepreneur had the partially non-profit agenda of teaching people to eat healthy. Maybe, we can look forward to a "Eating Healthy For Investors For Dummies" in the future!?
Tyson also wisely suggests we not try to follow a stock market guru. I strongly agree. Nobody can predict the future. Tyson also criticizes other investment writers who try to sell ongoing investment advice, but, I think, when he criticizes Peter Lynch and Simon and Schuster for trying to sell Lynch's books, Tyson is going a little too far. After all, this is coming from a writer who is famous for pumping out For Dummies books!
Unlike Tyson, who is by trade a writer, Lynch retired rich, as a successful mutual fund manager, and Lynch passed up the opportunity to start his own mutual fund which would have earned him tens of millions of dollars more than selling any investing book. So, what is the ulterior motivation for Peter Lynch to write that he believes individual investors can beat the pros in buying individual stocks? None. Lynch believes this and explains why in detail in his books.
Tyson claims to have read hundreds of investing books, but he totally ignores Lynch's rational, that individuals can beat the pros. He never addresses this, just sarcastically dismisses it.
Lynch's rational, that the professionals are all consumed with short-term performance and need to diversify widely, not for diversification's sake, but simply because they have too much money to invest, should not be dismissed lightly.
Tyson tells investors who try to buy their own stocks to examine the portfolios of mutual fund managers to see what they are buying. Boink!! Never mind professionals often recompose their portfolios before disclosure, so it looks as if they have been buying the best stocks of the day. Never mind that these professionals might well be selling long before you are notified of the change. And, never mind that most individuals are seeking stocks to buy-and-hold, while professional money managers are more frequent traders. Not Tyson's best advice.
Tyson correctly mentions that your earnings power is probably your greatest asset and that you should give enhancing your career some attention. But, we assume you knew this, also.
Overall, I do recommend Investing For Dummies to those individual investors who are totally new to investment and who want a quick overview of mutual fund investing, real estate investing, and small business.
Investing For Dummies can be obtained at most local, public libraries. But, if you are already a saver, know how to evaluate an income statement and balance sheet, and have read a superior personal finance book, such as Jane Bryant Quinn's Making The Most of Your Money, Investing For Dummies is probably too basic for you.
But, in fairness to Tyson, I think he has a great personal finance column! If you read the column, then get the book, you might be disappointed. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-12 00:00>
I've always loved Dummies books. I own three of Eric Tyson's books, including Investing for Dummies, which is my favorite. My dilemma, however, was where to go after I read the beginner Dummies financial books. What I wanted was a book that delved far beyond the basics, but was just as reader friendly and dependable as the Dummies titles. I was delighted to find three books that fit my criteria - Making the Most of Your Money by Jane Bryant Quinn and the Investing Bible and Retirement Bible, which were both written by Lynn O'Shaughnessy. Quinn's book is a big fat tome, which covers nearly every conceivable investing topic exhaustively. It's a great book, but there is one slight flaw. It was released in 1997, which makes some, but certainly not the majority of information outdated. Interestingly enough, The Investing Bible and The Retirement Bible, which were both released in 2001, are new books launched by none other than the Dummies publishers. O'Shaughnessy picks up where Tyson leaves off by exploring such topics as college investing, saving for retirement, as well as investing during retirement, and choosing and analyzing mutual funds and individual stocks. The Retirement Bible, I've got to say, was the first book I've ever seen that made topics like estate planning fascinating to read. I'd say you can't go wrong with any of these books. But if you already know something about investing, Quinn's book, as well as the Dummies spin-off Bible books will be a better fit. |
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Jody Podpora (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-12 00:00>
This book will provide you with the knowledge and the conceptual 'tools' that you'll need to evaluate your personal situation and develop an investing strategy based on cold, hard facts. If you're serious about being able to form your own opinion regarding how you should invest your money, throw out "Rich Dad, Richer Author" and buy this book.
It's written clearly in understandable language that those foreign to investing can understand, and is loaded with humor that makes learning about such a dry topic as painless as possible.
Much like any "101" (introductory-level) college course, this book provides a wide 'buffet-type' variety of information on all major topics that pertain to investing strategy. That is, there is more breadth than depth in the topics that are covered. Basically, after getting the facts from this book as laid out by Tyson, you'll be armed with a very solid base knowledgability in investing that will allow you to figure out exactly how and where to dig deeper to actually implement your strategy.
Like it or not, learning (properly) about a topic as complex as investing takes time. This book is where I'd recommend that most people that had minimal knowledge (like myself) start off learning in order to firmly grasp all of the most important fundamental concepts before they continue on to more advanced topics. |
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