Customer Reviews

Investing 101 (Bloomberg)

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Investment greenhorns: Read this book - Now! Can we be any clearer? Kathy Kristof has written the ideal manual for anyone mystified by the world of finance. Her clear, fact-filled book completely dispenses with the condescending tone and soothing jabber of most books in the how-to-invest genre. In their place, Kristof has compiled an enlightening compendium of elementary investment wisdom, lucid explanations of financial terms and instruments, and educational walk-thrus of stock-valuation techniques. Simply put: If you are not investing, you must read this book. Whether it's fear, ignorance or inertia that's keeping you out of the markets, Investing 101 will inspire you to put your money to work by revealing, in easy-to-understand language, exactly how it all really works. We at getAbstract recommend this book as required reading for any beginner investors, or to anyone who feels intimidated by a lack of financial knowledge.

As the title would suggest, this is very basic investing information. If you are a new investor, and seek a very broad overview of investing, and your options, then this is the book for you. I bought this book for my mother, who has never invested outside of a savings account. I read the book to be sure it would give her the information I was hoping for. It was exactly what I wanted, written in easy to follow terminology. If you're an experienced investor, this book is not for you, however if you're seeking basic investing information, give it a read.

This review is about the updated and expanded 2008 edition of Investing 101 by Kathy Kristof, nationally syndicated Personal Finance Columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

I approached this book from two perspectives, first, as a teacher (retired) of technical subject matter and, second, as a self-reliant investor (active) who is living out of his retirement funds.

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As a teacher, I had three objectives for students who took my courses. I expected students who completed my courses to come away with: (1) an appreciation for the discipline, (2) an understanding of the subject matter, and (3) a proficiency for putting the discipline into practice. If I were teaching Investing 101, could I realistically expect my students to achieve these same objectives with Kristof's composition as their textbook? The answer is Yes, Yes, and Yes. (And, yes, I know that Investing 101 was not written as a textbook, but please bear with me for the sake of this review.)

First, I believe my Investing 101 students will come away with a positive attitude toward the discipline of do-it-yourself investing. The FUD factor (fear, uncertainty, and doubt about private investing) is more than adequately addressed by Kristof in the first chapter of her book. I am convinced that an attitude check at the beginning of my make-believe course compared with the same attitude check at the end of the course would show that anxieties toward individual investing will be allayed because of Kristof's practical advice.

Second, I believe my students will come away with a clear comprehension of what investing is about, not only the buying and selling of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real estate investment trusts, but understanding these matters in relation to retirement planning and tax strategies. I believe that students who study Kristof's book and complete the paper-and-pencil assignments (worksheets spaced throughout the book) will finish this introductory investing course with enough fiscal savvy to be able to explain their financial goals, buy and sell strategies, and preferred portfolio allocations to their spouse, friends, financial adviser, and tax man.

Third, I believe my students will come away with a proficiency for setting up and maintaining investment portfolios on their own. I believe these portfolios will be wisely allocated between cash, stocks, and bonds so that principal will be protected and grow, income will be provided, and inflation will be hedged. I believe these portfolios, different for each student, will thrive in good markets and survive bad markets.

Overall, I believe my pretend students will benefit by the way Kristof's book is laid out. Each chapter is prefaced with a pedagogically sound "Quick Take" page. Kristof briefly tells the reader "What You'll Learn," "What You'll Do," and "How You'll Use This." If this were a theology book instead of a secular book, I would rename these headings as "Facts to be Believed," "Commands to be Obeyed," and "Promises to be Enjoyed."

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As a self-reliant, active investor who is living out of his retirement funds, I looked for but could not find any ill-advised, slipshod action plans in this book. Kristof writes unambiguously about real financial problems and genuine investment solutions. Her explanations and illustrations are clear and to the point.

On the one hand, I found no investment topics so simple or elementary that they had no place in this book. On the other hand, I found no esoteric discussions of financial topics that were beyond a novice investor's level of appreciation, understanding, and ability.

My Favorite Chapter: I especially liked Chapter 14, "The Lazy Investor's Portfolio Planner." ("Lazy Portfolio" is a hot topic on the Internet. I got 366,000 hits with a Google search.) In this chapter, Kristof tells the reader how to take everything they've learned in Chapters 1-13 and apply it to a "hands-off" portfolio. [...]
My Favorite Kristof Quote: "Do the math."

Bottom Line: I recommend Investing 101, the 2008 updated and expanded edition, both as a tutorial for the newbie investor and as a review guide and reference manual for the intermediate investor.

I have just finished reviewing Investing 101. As the title implies, this book takes a detailed look at finances (personal) but more to the point it takes a look at what is a financial market and how to invest, as an individual, without, hopefully losing your shirt.

There is a handy quiz to find out just how high (or low) your tolerance to risk is and based on this, the book continues to explain all the fundamentals about investing wisely.

This book is written for a novice and the terms used are everyday and easy to understand. This book also describes the various financial terms that are used in the market and this feature was quite helpful.

While I enjoyed this book, it focused more on families and less on singles - which is something that I was interested in. Also, this book's audience definitely is novice as there is very little in the way of intermediate financial information.

This is a great book for somebody who is starting out or who needs to polish their knowledge.

Personal finance columnist and expert Kathy Kristof's Investing 101 is a compendium of clear, concise, practical, effective advice on getting motivated for investing, assessing financial goals for investment purposes and strategies, choosing the right types of investments based on particular needs or aspirations, finding and understanding financial information, diversifying investments, and keeping good financial records. Investing 101 is especially designed for those new to investing and will save the novice investor a great deal of time, avoid needless aggravation, and prevent unsound financial investment decisions and unacceptable risks.

With humor and her usual conversational style, Kathy Kristof covers every aspect of investing right up to viatical settlements, which is so new that few investment guide books include it.

Seniors, especially, will find this book worth its weight in gold, since so many become victims of financial fraud. Without great strain, you will understand how the investment works and be able to evaluate if it is suitable for you. Don't risk buying any investment, until you've read this book.

This book does such a wonderful job introducing the beginners to the investing world. Different types of securities, different ways of investing ... this book has them all. If you just start investing or are interested in investing, this book is for you, don't miss out such a good book !

I am a newbie when it comes to investing. Prior to reading this book, I had read The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing (great book!). I was under the impression that stocks were the main investment vehicle for those trying to maximize returns. Gee was I wrong! Investing 101 gives you a much broader view of the investing game. For those who want to know the many investment vehicles out there, this is the book to read. It covers stocks, bonds, and various types of funds (social funds, REITs, international funds, and tax-favored).

It also offers goal-oriented investing strategies. The author does a great job of explaining how to allocate assets based on your goals and the time you have to achieve them. She seperates types of goals into short, medium, and long term. She also explains types of investments to consider based on those goals: cash, income, and growth.

The book lacks in-depth discussion of each investment vehicle, but I don't think it was the author's intention to do so. Use it as an eye-opener to the several options you can put your money into. Give it a go!

It is a book for starters. And the objective has been reached completely. The book explains in a very "down to earth" style the different investing instruments and the risk associated with them. Obviusly it will be up to you if you invest or not, but even if you don't go with the stock market at least you will end up knowing what was the meaning of all those "strange" terms that you read in the papers and TV. I would recommend it hands down.If you are starting, or thinking about doing it, this is a "must read", it will be a good start for your "financial education".

I love this book. It is excellent for beginners and easy to read. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to learn about investing - its title tells it all. Also, it talks about some basic investment strategies & how to read/interpret a stock analysis , prospectus, etc.