103 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simple Lifetime Investing Approach That Works, November 7, 2006
This review is from: The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read: The Simple, Stress-Free Way to Reach Your Investment Goals (Hardcover)
Daniel Solin, a securities arbitration lawyer, has penned a short and sweet book on investing for all types of investors. The author's four-step investment strategy is one that is well known and has been espoused by many market veterans (especially John Bogle, the inventor of the first index fund at Vanguard) and the financial media (selected magazine articles and selected investing books) for years.
Solin recommends that investors follow four steps with their investments to beat the vast majority of professionals:
1. Determine your asset allocation based upon your personal parameters (Note: author provides a multi-page asset allocation questionnaire to determine a specific score for each individual's circumstances and risk tolerance).
2. Open an account with Fidelity Investments, Vanguard or T. Rowe Price.
3. Set up your portfolio among three specific no-load, low internal expense index funds in any of the three fund families representing the total U.S. stock market, international market, and U.S. bond market, or purchase three specific similar in composition ETFs.
4. Rebalance the portfolio twice a year.
The author provides readers with a specific percentage of dollars to be invested in each fund or ETF depending upon the investor's risk tolerance. In an appendix, he provides the historical returns of these portfolios for the four risk combinations (e.g., 20% equities/80% bonds, 40%/60%. 60%/40%and 80%/20%).
He appropriately warns investors about hedge funds, house funds, margin, B and C mutual fund shares, and other concerns that result in higher costs and lower returns. With the advent of the Internet, investment scams have proliferated and investors need to be exceedingly careful with their money.
While most of the author's points are on solid ground, I take issue with his chapter titled "Nobody Can Time the Market." The author mentions that market timing is nothing but a shell game, and that no one can consistently predict the market's direction. I find that assertion not credible. The main goal of market timing is to reduce risk, not beat the market. The key to investment success is to look at risk-adjusted returns, since bear markets can devastate portfolios and take many years to recover. The Hulbert Financial Digest, an independent and authoritative rating service, tracks stock and mutual fund newsletter writers, as well as market timers. The digest provides data on specific market timers that have beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis for the last 10 years or more. So yes, there are successful market timers contrary to the author's assertion.
Solin's basic premise is that most investors with less than $1 million in investible assets do not need the help of investment advisors and brokers, since their assistance does not translate into improved returns over the long term. Therefore, why pay them commissions and fees when they offer no value-added. Wealthy investors may benefit from the more complicated investment strategies offered by advisers.
Overall, the author does a credible job of providing investors with the basics of a solid investment plan and how to put together a viable low-cost portfolio that will appreciate over time. This is a quick read and will take about an hour or two to get through. After that, it is up to the reader to take action, and that may be the biggest stumbling block to his/her future investment success.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smart and easy investing, December 1, 2006
This review is from: The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read: The Simple, Stress-Free Way to Reach Your Investment Goals (Hardcover)
My husband and I followed the plan in this book and I can say that it is everything it says it is. It is simple. It took us less than an hour to decide on our asset allocation (I went to the author's website [...] and took the questionnaire on line.) We are opening accounts directly with Fidelity after contacting their customer service people who were excellent in responding to the few questions we had.
We don't worry about the news. We don't worry about the collapse of another major company or industry. We feel really good about having a "global" portfolio and about understanding (finally) and managing our risk.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing or Arrogant? Still a Worthwhile Investment Read, March 20, 2007
This review is from: The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read: The Simple, Stress-Free Way to Reach Your Investment Goals (Hardcover)
The message here is that investors should take charge of their investment portfolio by determining an asset allocation model based on their tolerance for risk and invest their assets in index mutual funds (or ETF exchange traded funds) that track the U.S. equity, U.S. bond, and international markets. Trying to "beat" the market with actively managed mutual funds is a fool's game. Stock-picking and market-timing don't work. The popular financial media is a distraction. Your broker may not be acting in your best interest. Avoid hedge funds, margin, brokerage wrap accounts, proprietary brokerage ("house") mutual funds, B and C mutual fund shares, etc.
Even the author concedes that we've heard this before. His contention, however, is that many of those scholarly works are difficult to understand and have not achieved commercial success thus conveying the impression that you can't do this yourself. That's the rationale for this book. The ideas are concise and accessible. Many will be put-off by the book's aggressive tone (e.g. most advisers are "hyperactive" and self-serving). Many will find this tabloid-equivalency refreshing.
The basic ideas - the importance of asset allocation and low investment costs - and many of the specifics - the recommended portfolios - of this book make sense for many investors, I'm not sure all. Solin talks about including bonds as "ballast" in a portfolio, but what about the specific value of tax free municipal bonds? Among the best performing investment classes in recent years (and at other times) have been real estate and commodities. These diversifying asset classes are overlooked, even though ETFs track indexes for those different markets. Another reality is that many retirees are looking for investments that produce strong (monthly) cash flow, yet these are also ignored.
One of the risks faced by an investor is that the rush of certainty imparted by this book can persuade them that they have learned all they need to know. A little bit of humility (uncertainty?) is a good thing for an open mind in an unpredictable market.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
