Customer Reviews

Retire Early Sleep Well: A Practical Guide to Modern Portfolio Theory and Retirement in Plain English

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been an avid investor since I was 12 years old (I am now 53) and have read numerous books on investing. This is one of the best if not the best I have read on this subject. Steve Davis has written an outstanding book that presents very clearly and concisely the best advice out there for individual investors. He explains modern portfolio theory and shows how to apply it in a very practical manner that anyone could follow. I have recommended and given this book to many friends. I refer to his book frequently as I am preparing for my own retirement. I only wish this book had been available 30 years ago.

I must have over 15 investment books on investing for retirement and all Of Larry Swedroe's books but this one is the most concise and well written of all that I have ever seen. Steve takes a tremendous amount of information about investing and retirement and puts it into a compact and exceedingly usable and readable format unlike anything I have ever seen. I have referred to it numerous times over the last few months. For anybody interested in investing and retirement this is a must have book!

I am recently retired, and an avid investor. This is the absolute best retirement planning and basic investing book I have found. It distills complex topics, such as modern portfolio theory, into easy to follow, easy to read chapters. I have bought a half dozen copies I have given to my kids and friends, and plan to buy more. This is a must read for people from college age through well into retirement age.

... and provides such solid, convincing, factual evidence and research to support Mr. Davis' "Buy index funds only" advice that I'm afraid eventually everyone will discover it and stop buying any individual stocks altogether. Would that screw things up? I dunno, maybe not.

In any case ... Mr. Davis lays out a portfolio of index mutual funds for the reader in Chapters 30 & 31 that should optimize anybody's individual investment situation.

I've got a pretty decent savings now - But, I will say that I've gone back and compared what I actually invested in (since my I started investing in 1996) to how I would've done had I had this book in 1996 - I'd have much more than twice as much money, mainly because it would have eliminated my large losses/ mistakes. This just about makes me cry!

I wish Mr. Davis would establish a website where readers could ask questions or advice that may not pertain to everyone, like the advice in this book does.

Great book. This book represents the "Cliff's Notes" of 20 other books on individual investing. It strongly makes the case for a portfolio of index funds, with minimum expense ratios, and gives practical lists of how to implement such a strategy. Don't establish your personal portfolio without reading this book.

Lays out the basics of modern portfolio theory in very concise fashion. Makes the case for indexing crystal-clear. Provides a useful guide to asset allocation and relevant asset classes.

My only quibble is that if everyone followed the asset allocation suggested in the book, which is heavily skewed towards small-cap value stocks, imbalances would be created that would eliminate the gains to be had from them.

While this is a decent book with decent advice, his thoughts on Modern Portfolio Theory are dated and stubbornly backed up with tired quotes.

Specifically, he paints a straw-man argument against what he calls "Active Management," which is only an empty shell of what a knowledgeable financial planner would advise.

While the basics of Modern Portfolio are sound (asset allocations over individual holdings), I find his touting of Indexing and condemnation of Active Management to be out-of-touch-with-reality.