In today's volatile market, jittery nerves are the norm when it comes to investing. But with these keep-it-simple, easy-to-understand, proven strategies that--best of all--take very little time or energy to maintain, readers can relax. Dr. Farrell has distilled the most successful plans--from the Couch Potato to the Coffee House to the No-Brainer approach--so that even inexperienced investors can chart their financial future with confidence.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Popular CBS Marketwatch columnist Farrell provides a thoroughly enjoyable and straightforward look at what he sees as "the future of investing"-"simple lazy portfolios that'll work for anyone and are easy to understand." He provides three different model portfolios based on one simple formula: "rock-solid, easy-to-understand asset allocation using no-load index funds." Farrell is a huge proponent of no-load funds such as the Vanguard 500 Index, which tracks the Standard & Poor 500 listing of America's largest companies, and the Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund Index, which matches the performance of the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index. Farrell persuasively argues that the strong long-term performance of these funds, even during hard market times-along with the strong performance of other Vanguard index funds such as those for large-cap and small-cap value-proves that "the only rational strategy" for the vast majority of America's 94 million mutual fund investors is "a simple buy 'n' hold strategy" that diversifies portfolio assets across multiple categories of assets. Packed with clear examples of how regular people can easily handle their own investments, Farrell's guide also takes on other sacred cows, such as Wall Street's belief that brokers know more than you do, and provides an exciting and illuminating section on no-load stocks, or DRIPs, which he calls "Wall Street's best-kept secret."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
DR. PAUL B. FARRELL lives in Arroyo Grande, California
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've been a serious investor for more than 30 years and have read much more than my share of investment books and articles. This is one of the more interesting ones I've read lately.
In general I am opposed to the idea that lazy investing can produce great results. If that were really true, we'd all be billionaires. However, no investor can succeed by adopting a strategy that's too complex to understand and implement. What many investors need is not rocket-science strategies that could shoot for the moon, but low-cost solutions that will keep them from going too far astray while avoiding massive losses. Dr. Paul Farrell has done a good job of describing lots of solutions like that.
My interest in investing was sparked when I was a teenager, by a book that described many fascinating concepts and ways that people can put their money to work making more money. It was all new to me, and I was instantly hooked ... and remain so today.
The book I read is hopelessly out of date. But "The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing" is a book that I would love to put into the hands of a potential investor or a young investor or an older investor who's just getting started. This would open such a person's eyes to a ton of possibilities and resources.
I don't think Farrell's book describes the ultimate solutions that will be best for people who have substantial savings. But it's not written for them. This book is written for a wide audience of people who are wisely wary of trusting Wall Street and the financial media - and who want some straight answers from somebody who's not out to pick their pockets.
For that audience, this book is right on target.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Although it's true that the book is short and often repetitive (some of the same quotes from famous investors are used 2-3 times in the same chapter), that doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile read. Farrell knows he's got something simple to say, but that's his point: investing using a simple allocation strategy using no-load index funds with the cheapest possible administrative costs delivers returns similar to managed funds and buying individual stocks without requiring any of the effort or time investing in the latter require from an investor.
There's not a lot of detail in the book, but note the title: "The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing." Lazy people don't want to learn about ROEs and P/E ratios and book values or how to analyze a stock or time the market. They just want their money to grow while they're off doing something else, like playing with the kids or shopping or sitting in front of the television. This book is for them, not the serious investor.
There's not a lot of detail in the book, but note the title: "The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing." Lazy people don't want to learn about ROEs and P/E ratios and book values or how to analyze a stock or time the market. They just want their money to grow while they're off doing something else, like playing with the kids or shopping or sitting in front of the television. This book is for them, not the serious investor.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The advice is very standard - buy index funds and diversify. Not enough data to evaluate which portfollio to pursue - relative rates of return, relative volativity, relative tax liability. Needs more data on how to follow a portfollio if you already have one, and more data needed on how to best re-balance.
Instead get the data free at Paul's web site: "Three 'lazy' portfolios still big winners Keeping it simple doesn't mean returns have to lag" By Paul B. Farrell, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:00 PM ET Jan 28, 2004
Or http://www.coffeehouseinvestor.com/
Or http://www.dallasnews.com/business/scottburns/
Sorry I spent money on the book, as I heard all of this on his web pages.
Instead get the data free at Paul's web site: "Three 'lazy' portfolios still big winners Keeping it simple doesn't mean returns have to lag" By Paul B. Farrell, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:00 PM ET Jan 28, 2004
Or http://www.coffeehouseinvestor.com/
Or http://www.dallasnews.com/business/scottburns/
Sorry I spent money on the book, as I heard all of this on his web pages.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
good advice for truly long term investors, not for everyone
"Buy-and-hold", as recommended in this book and elsewhere, is actually a variant of market timing. It simply has a very long holding period and a random sell method. Read more
Published 22 months ago by F. d'Anconia
Best lessons learned through repetition
Very useful reminder about active managed funds rarely outperforming Index funds.
Offers advice to those who just cannot sit and watch the paint dry but stresses the best way... Read more
Offers advice to those who just cannot sit and watch the paint dry but stresses the best way... Read more
Published on April 25, 2010 by Graham Palmer
Not really what I expected..
Paul summarizes a lot of other books, by name. I would think those authors wouldn't be too happy having their books distilled into two paragraphs. Read more
Published on September 12, 2009 by Christopher Evans
Good for people with no time to research their own investments
The main idea behind this book is simple: you cannot beat the market, so don't try it; just buy and hold the index. Read more
Published on August 12, 2009 by Mariusz Skonieczny
useless garbage
If it was only so easy.. Don't waste your time with this proven huckster. If you want more in depth advice check out his earlier book: 'Think Astrology & Grow Rich: With the New... Read more
Published on March 10, 2009 by G Coop
Easy to Understand and Fun to Read
This is a book for procrastinators, the financially challenged, and everyone who worries about dealing with their money. Read more
Published on January 17, 2009 by Jusuf Hariman
The best primer for the passive investor
I don't usually review books like Farrell's, but this is a special case. This book resonated with me. It showed me the wonders of indexing and the case against active investing. Read more
Published on July 17, 2008 by reenum
Keep It Simple Stupid
Investing has been a hobby of mine for about 15 yrs. now. I would estimate that I've read at least twenty books on investing, trading, Buffetology etc. Read more
Published on June 14, 2008 by chuckb
I would recommend this book
This is a great book to get a start on investing or to do investing without needing to learn too much. Read more
Published on April 3, 2008 by Research Fanatic
An decent introduction. Read Carlson instead.
A decent introduction if you can't get a hold of Carlson's "Eight Steps to Seven Figures." I think Carlson's book was better and more inspirational. Read more
Published on April 2, 2008 by Joshua P. Sowin
Inside This Book
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Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
Over the years I kept running across three of America's laziest portfolios. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
lazy investing, lazy investor, passive index funds, ten funds, mini portfolios, hybrid funds, indexed portfolio, proprietary funds, market wizards, winning portfolio, index portfolio, index mutual funds, four funds, stock index fund, load funds, fund families Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Wall Street, Couch Potato Portfolio, Coffeehouse Portfolio, Main Street, Jack Bogle, Rowe Price, Motley Fools, No-Brainer Portfolio, Warren Buffett, Nobel Prize, Merrill Lynch, American Century, Explode Funds, Hype Machine, Morgan Stanley, Peter Lynch, American Funds, Charles Schwab, Chuck Carlson, Corporate America, Cox Balanced, Ric Edelman, Ben Franklin, Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Brown New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Over the years I kept running across three of America's laziest portfolios. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
lazy investing, lazy investor, passive index funds, ten funds, mini portfolios, hybrid funds, indexed portfolio, proprietary funds, market wizards, winning portfolio, index portfolio, index mutual funds, four funds, stock index fund, load funds, fund families Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Wall Street, Couch Potato Portfolio, Coffeehouse Portfolio, Main Street, Jack Bogle, Rowe Price, Motley Fools, No-Brainer Portfolio, Warren Buffett, Nobel Prize, Merrill Lynch, American Century, Explode Funds, Hype Machine, Morgan Stanley, Peter Lynch, American Funds, Charles Schwab, Chuck Carlson, Corporate America, Cox Balanced, Ric Edelman, Ben Franklin, Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Brown New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 39
books:
See all 39 books this book cites
- The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley on 4 pages
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street: Including a Life-Cycle Guide to Personal Investing by Burton G. Malkiel on 4 pages
- The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley on 4 pages
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Fourth Edition 1985 by Burton G. Malkiel on 4 pages
- Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel: A Guide to Outwitting Your Boss, Your Coworkers, and the Other Pants-Wearing Ferrets in Your Life by Scott Adams on page 120, page 124, and page 127
See all 39 books this book cites
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