The Motley Fool's Investing Without a Silver Spoon: How Anyone Can Build Wealth Through Direct Investing [Paperback]

Jeff Fischer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motley Fool Books | Publication Date: July 1999

Jeff Fischer, manager of The Motley Fool's DRP (dividend reinvestment plan) portfolio, explains why direct investing is a cost-effective method for investors of all levels. He provides step-by-step instructions for getting started and guidance on everything from selecting great stocks to handling related taxes.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dispelling the myth that it takes big money to make big money, Motley Fool writer Jeff Fischer champions direct investing, showing how individual investors can build substantial wealth with relatively small outlays of cash. Starting with as little as $50, an investor can purchase stock directly from a company, thereby avoiding intermediary charges incurred by using a broker. Fischer then explains how money compounds so that even small monthly investments can become significant nest eggs. In a section titled "How Do I Become a Millionaire?" he lists several ways to do so: "Begin with $500, save $1,200 annually, or $100 a month, and earn 15% per year. In 33 years, you'll have over $1 million." Or "Begin broke, save $2,400 a year, or $200 monthly, earn the stock market's historic 11% annual return, and in 36 years you'll have more than one million clams." Fischer presents basic investing principles here--a little over time becomes a lot--but like a typical Fool, he does so in a lighthearted, easy-to-understand fashion. The bulk of the book (300-plus pages), however, focuses on listings for more than 1,000 direct-investment plans, including company contact information, investing schedules, minimum and maximum investment amounts, and miscellaneous selling info. (For example, Roslyn Bancorp Inc.: "Sells within 10 bus. days, by mail, at avg. price, for $10 + comm.") A good resource for the cash-light beginning investor. --Rob McDonald

Product Details

• Paperback: 437 pages
• Publisher: Motley Fool; First Printing edition (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189254704X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892547040
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and concise, too, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Motley Fool's Investing Without a Silver Spoon: How Anyone Can Build Wealth Through Direct Investing (Paperback)

This book covers everything to get started in the stock market with whatever money you have, and it's concise enough too that it doesn't waste your time with extra words. A very finely written book. The investment plan information in the appendix is nice to have in print.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best direct investing book, August 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Motley Fool's Investing Without a Silver Spoon: How Anyone Can Build Wealth Through Direct Investing (Paperback)

I have purchased three direct investing books, and this one is by far the best... comprehensive and easy to follow... they arrange the info on investment plans in a clean format... don't worry about direct investment plans being too complicated... they're very easy and everyone should get involved with them... this is a good book for getting started.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource of information., July 9, 2001

By 

Marlene J. Geary (Hartford, CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Motley Fool's Investing Without a Silver Spoon: How Anyone Can Build Wealth Through Direct Investing (Paperback)

The first third of this book is detailed information about how to analyze stock numbers, ratios, etc. That's quite valuable information and key to developed a system of analysis to figure out the stocks in which you want to invest.

What surprised me was the *rest* of the book! They compiled a comprehensive list of hundreds and hundreds of companies which have dividend reinvestment and related plans. This made calling those companies for more info so easy! So easy to get started with investing my savings for the long term. BUY THIS -- you won't regret it.