As recently as a generation or two ago, the lack of financial ability wasn't a handicap for the average person. But in today's world - where most of us have been forced to manage our own investment and retirement portfolios - it has become essential to understand the finer points of our financial life.

While the meltdown of 2008 - 2009 has compounded the complexity of the investment landscape, timeless investment principles can help you navigate even the toughest investment terrain.

That's why best-selling author William Bernstein - a grassroots hero to independent investors - has written The Investor's Manifesto. Approaching the problems of investing and saving from the perspective of someone who has had to figure it out for himself, Bernstein knows firsthand how difficult these endeavors can be - especially for those with little professional experience in this arena. Now, with the current market maelstrom as a backdrop, he skillfully describes what it takes to plan for a lifetime of investing, discussing stocks and bonds as well as the relationship between risk and return.

Potentially generous returns are available to the brave, the disciplined, and the liquid. If you follow the advice found here and keep your head while others lose theirs, then you will have a fighting chance of avoiding the financial pitfalls in front of you and profiting over the long-term.

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Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Listening Length	5 hours and 46 minutes
Author	William Bernstein
Narrator	Scott Peterson
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	December 18, 2009
Publisher	Gildan Media, LLC
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0031AVQPY
Best Sellers Rank	#86,942 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #818 in Investing & Trading #999 in Personal Finance (Audible Books & Originals) #1,517 in Introduction to Investing

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4 star		20%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Robert P

A distillation of his previous books with new lessons from 2008

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2010

Verified Purchase

As a longtime fan of Dr. Bernstein's writing, I have to say that this is the most accessible version of his pro-indexing asset allocation philosophy available. No anecdotes, voodoo, or blackbox formulas here. Just solid, common sense advice backed up by data, data, and more data. Bernstein is a physician who also has a PhD so he's no lightweight academically. Of course, those credentials don't automatically translate into financial acumen so you also need to know that he is a published economic historian and well-read student of global markets and finance as well. I have read both of his previous investment books ("The Intelligent Asset Allocator" and "The Four Pillars of Investing") and while they are both superb they tend toward more technical and detailed explanations of the same concepts packaged much more concisely in "The Investor's Manifesto." If you're new to his ideas and writing, this is the place to start (and end, if that's as far as your interest goes). Having said in the title of this review that the current book includes lessons from the 2008 market crash, the basic investment principles outlined in his previous books remain unchanged, since 2008 was only the latest in the depressing history of market booms and busts. This book is an absolute goldmine of investment wisdom and fairly focused asset allocation recommendations. It's also full of witty asides. One of my favorites (referring to financial advisors) goes something like this: "I think that the word 'guru' has become popular because charlatan is so hard to spell." If you have even half a brain and a little bit of discipline you can use the principles outlined in this book to profitably manage your own investment portfolio without expense-laden "help" from a professional advisor or broker. Current events in government and on Wall Street make this book even more essential reading.

17 people found this helpful

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Engineer at Heart

Great revelations for the long haul investor!

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

My goal in purchasing this book was to better understand the common mistakes most people (including myself!) make in investing for the long haul and invoke some discipline in my investing. I think of Long haul investing as different from trading and speculation, as the goal is capital preservation (not to lose money that you have worked hard for!) and get reasonable gains in the long term as well.

What makes does book very unique IMO is an amazing big picture coverage of 4 key knowledge areas that must be adhered to for very long term investing. Coverage of these areas protects from many pitfalls that most investors eventually fall prey to and a practical solution in the end for anyone to follow. This book provides a multi-century perspective i.e a long term view of investing that most of us badly lack or forget in our day to day investing. The book does a great job of explaining asset classes from first principles, reason for getting returns in the first place, risk premium etc. And the chapter on investor psychology was simply amazing - I learned a lot of stuff from that short chapter. For example, the ratio of good to bad market days is very close to 50/50, but ratio of good to bad years is very high! Being short sighted and reactive to the day to day movements can influence investors in making very irrational decisions. Personally I found this chapter very enlightening towards my own investing decisions.

I won't say this book is complete but I would say knowledge in this book is essential to master if you are to ever hope for a long term portfolio that you can be happy about trusting for bulk of your savings.

I took one star off because of a big weakness in one of the most important topic this book covers: asset allocation. Mr. Bernstein does an amazing job explaining the benefits of diversification vs. active picking and stock concentration. The book also starts great by introducing the concept of risk premium and even talks about inflation adjusted returns. It also sharply focuses on how one must be ready to risk or lose some of the capital in the short term to get gains in the long term. But it never ties them together into a coherent concept by altogether skipping the crucial concept of "risk-adjusted returns". I feel the book skips an extremely important cornerstone of portfolio construction. This can make a difference of night and day over the long run of how much sleep you lose over your diversified portfolio and your overall gains, crash scenario + average losses in the long run.

The actual allocation ground rules for your money into stocks and bonds is very hand wavy, sticking the customary way of 60% equity / 40% bonds or other functions of one's age. This is some ways can be a dis-service because portfolio construction has come a long way than this "simple to teach" yet very risky allocation. Even a 60/40 portfolio is not really balanced since in terms of risk (or volatility) it is very heavily weighed towards stocks i.e. probability of losing money (80-90% of your losses in such a portfolio may come from stocks). Another way of saying this is that it still has low risk-adjusted returns (ratio of return/risk). One can greatly improve the risk of the portfolio by even simple weighing techniques that take into account some measure of "risk" and/or correlation of different assets. This is the essence of diversification and enhancing the long term risk-adjusted returns. Perhaps the classic approach is simple to teach and follow for a wide range of audience, but if one is talking about one's life's savings, I feel an extra or half a chapter was warranted to make this book really complete in its recommendations. Maybe the author does not feel there is any other allocation technique fundamentally superior to the "classic" age based allocations, but it would be nice to know a sound justification.

Overall, despite this, very highly recommended for every beginner or intermediate investor!

6 people found this helpful

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Mountain Reader

A Readable Update to Bernstein's Philosophy

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2010

Verified Purchase

True to form Bernstein stays consistent with his Four Pillars . . . . book. I enjoyed that one as well, and while it is more detailed, his latest book gives the investor plenty to digest when considering an investment plan. Excessive fund fees and short term investment theories are rampant in the industry and Bernstein advises keeping your distance from the investment industry, or at least go forewarned by reading this book. The investor comes third in most of the industry - the broker/adviser has to make a living for himself, he has to hew the line for his employer, the investment company, and guess who is third in line? There goes most of your return, or worse, over time. Bernstein is brilliant in his long term study of market history and its function as it affects the investor. There are probably some fee only advisers out there who can steer one in a reasonable direction (and add some needed advice as to insurance, succession plans, etc.) but this book gives both the novice and experienced investor a place to start to begin to assess your plan, whether it's your company 401 or your post retirement nest egg. Investors beware and be armed with the best advice out there - read this book before you make any further decisions about your financial future. The "Armageddon" in the sub-title is a little misleading in my opinion as this is not a "buy gold" or dig your shelter book. It is the best investment advice available by a practical and brilliant researcher/investor, for any situation. I have made many investment mistakes and read most of the literature over the years, including hammering down the management fees in my employee's retirement plan, and along the way acquired an MBA and completed the CFP program. Just read whatever Bernstein has written before proceeding with anything else.

9 people found this helpful

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Mr S

Arrived on time

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Just started reading this. It's not as easy a read as Alvin Hall's books, but I expect it to provide more detail and develop themes. Will review again when I've completed the book.
Have finished the book. The first few chapters are a bit theoretical and historical, but the main sections are more readable and relevant to personal investing. The main problem with the book is that the penultimate chapter about 'Building a portfolio' is for AMERICAN investors only, it does not take account of UK pensions or State provision.
If you are new to investing there is some good advice, the basic messages are: invest in passive/low cost funds, have some diversification in your portfolio and be honest about your 'rsik tolerance'

Gary Johnson

Wisdom, evidence and clarity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

Bernstein is the acme of investment writers. A neurologist-turned-finance-writer Bernstein applies the evidence-base medicine approach to investing. The result is solid, evidence-based insights laced with wisdom and explained very clearly.
If you were only to read one book on investment, this is a very strong candidate for being that book.
If you are looking for get-rich-quick investment secrets, this is not the place. If you are looking for sober, intelligent and humble insights, I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

Rodrigo Paschoal Botelho

Excelente leitura

Reviewed in Brazil on November 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

Livro de linguagem leve, onde o próprio autor reconhece que aperfeiçoou sua escrita nesse quarto livro sobre o assunto. São informadas dicas gerais sobre como investir, como montar uma carteira e como são os momentos de crash no mercado - o ano de lançamento foi 2008/2009, logo após o início da grande crise econômica nos Estados Unidos.

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Carfa

educazione finanziaria.....

Reviewed in Italy on February 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

E' uno di quei libri utili e fondamentali per costruirsi un minimo di competenza in pianificazione finanziaria che consenta di gestire opportunamente i propri risparmi.
Il libro contiene anche alcuni specifici riferimenti a strumenti propri del mercato USA, però nel complesso i concetti sono assolutamente generali e ben spiegati.

One person found this helpful

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Gabriel Barros

Ótimo para iniciantes

Reviewed in Brazil on July 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Ótimo livro para quem esta começando a estudar finanças pessoais e a como montar seu patrimônio para aposentaria. Você precisará ler outros para se sentir mais confiante com seus investimentos, mas este é um bom ponto de partida.

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The Investors Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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