Customer Reviews

The Inner Game of Investing: Access the Power of Your Investment Personality (Wiley Investment)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Niederman's book is a fun read. The strength of it is his creative style, rather than brilliant insights into the market or specific strategies for trading. He's humorous and engaging. (I read it on a three hour plane flight.) If you want a very readable book on the psychology of investing, this is the one.

I always thought that being a successful investor depended on being clever enough to choose exactly the right investments. Imagine the power of feeling that I am at least half of that equation. Pondering the fact that Buffet and Soros have succeeded going down very different paths made me curious enough to look for myself among the different investor types that Niederman puts forth (I'm a skeptic, alas.) and to see if it could make a difference.I think it will. Besides, reading this book is pure pleasure. A combination of street smarts and smart wit. I recommend it highly.

Every investor is different and there is no such thing as a one size fits all investment. People have different needs and personalities. The author argues that investors should have an investment philosophy that fits their needs and personalities.

I really enjoyed the chapter "Dealing with Others." It was really eye-opening to me to learn about professional portfolio management. It is important for readers to realize that a typical professional portfolio manager does not have time to be a superior investor. He or she has to handle clients' phone calls and answer their question as well as research investment opportunities at the same time. There are only so many hours in a day. This book was very educational.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

I bought "Inner" with the expectation it would provide me with insights into how my personality impacts my investing decisions. I found the book to completely devoid of any useful insights.

To give you an idea, "Inner" divides the human race into 4 or 5 "types". It then offers to categorize you and me and everybody in China by the simple expedient of answering 5 questions, one of which usually has to do with whether you are the oldest of youngest child. Suffice it to say that I have seen more rigorous persoality testing methodology in Readers Digest magazine. Having set up the categories, the advice offered was worthy of a horoscope column in the daily paper, i.e. vague enought to apply to anyone.

"Inner" was the most useless book I have read in quite a while.

The author examines unfounded and unscientific types of investors. The Weath Equation by Tanous is a scientific work on investment psycology. This appears to be a pop psycology take on people rather than a usable work.