14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Basic Investing Primer for All Ages, September 19, 2003
This review is from: The Teenage Investor : How to Start Early, Invest Often & Build Wealth (Paperback)
This easy-to-read, nicely formatted (highlighted sidebars) 204-page paperback is fun to read and clearly written. It is one of the simplest and best expositions on the subject that I've come across. Although its title suggests that it was written solely for teenage investors, it could have been easily titled "Everybody's Guide to Investing". A 13-year old precocious investor, Timothy Olsen, wrote the book. Interestingly, the writing style, subject knowledge, and comprehensive coverage of the topic appears to be written by a much more experienced professional investor. Congratulations to Timothy on mastering a complex subject and explaining it so simply.
This book is suited for anyone who desires a quick and basic overview of stock market investing. It is perfectly suited for novices who have no idea about this intriguing and vital subject. Unfortunately, the high schools in this country do not spend much time, if any, on the basics of investing and savings. This book should certainly be recommended as supplementary reading by high school Economic classes. In addition to the stock market basics, other topics covered include mutual funds, index funds and bonds. The author also explains how difficult it is to beat the market, why market timing is not a good idea, and why selecting mutual funds with low expenses is critical. He then covers issues of trust with regard to analysts, brokers and financial planners. Also discussed are how to research stocks and the importance of asset allocation.
The book does not cover most subjects in great depth - as this is only a primer - but provides the basic tenets needed to understand the key investing concepts. Two shortfalls of the book are its lack of website addresses and bibliography. For example, there were several references to John Bogle (Former Vanguard Chairman) on pages 105 and 169 in wonderful sidebar notes. It would have been great if the Website of Bogle's speeches or titles of his books were included. (That site is: ........ Another example where Websites were lacking were when the author refers to index funds and exchange-traded funds. (Those sites are indexfunds.com, etfconnect.com, ishares.com, etc.)
If you have teenage children and you want them to learn about the stock market with a quick and enjoyable immersion in the subject matter, then I highly recommend this book. The future investors in America's capitalist system need to know what it's all about, and this book provides solid information and a head start on the investing journey.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Reduce Risk by... putting your money in the bank?, April 4, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Teenage Investor : How to Start Early, Invest Often & Build Wealth (Paperback)
This book is mainly for those who are extremely afraid of risking money in individual stocks or smaller kids (<12) The only stocks he likes are index funds. Otherwise, its CDs or something having to do with the bank. The author is ultra-concerned about risk, and he's 13 years old. His ultra-concern about risk gets very annoying and repetitive after you've read 50 pages.
This is a great book for small kids, who aren't ready to take on the more risky stock market and individual stocks- it shows you the other options. (like the bank!) But for everyone 14+, I recommend "The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing".
(I'm 15 years old)
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the kid's okay, June 22, 2005
This review is from: The Teenage Investor : How to Start Early, Invest Often & Build Wealth (Paperback)
this is a good, easy read and i definitely recommend it for teenagers or people that are just starting to build some financial knowledge. the basic concepts are explained quite well, and the language is clear and straightforward. however, he sometimes sounds like a broken record and constantly admonishes the reader to use mutual funds and save money and not take risks- again and again, and it kinda gets old after awhile. this book could probably be written in about half it's length if that weren't the case.
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