You’ve probably heard the saying, “The only certainty in investing is uncertainty”.
It’s true – the market is unpredictable, and you’ll never know with certainty what the future holds.
Your only option is to prepare yourself by learning as much as you can about investing, strategies, and risk. That’s where the best investing books come in.
Investing-related books will help you:
- Understand the markets & portfolio management
- Learn new investing and trading strategies
- Explore the psychology of investing & the financial market
- Know effective risk management to take control of your personal finances
With so many investment books out there, some excellent and some sub-par, where do you begin? Let’s explore the 18 best investing books to add to your to-read pile this year.
How to learn investing from the best investment books
Whether you’re a new investor or a seasoned pro, investing and making financial decisions can be daunting.
Quality finance books can be an invaluable resource in understanding key concepts and strategies. Some books will also delve into the philosophies behind best investment practices and money management.
The top 18 investing books from 2021 hold the valuable information and wisdom you need to make your investing journey a success:
Best investing books for beginners
One of the best ways to set yourself up for success as a beginner is to develop a solid foundation of knowledge. Look for key investing concepts, helpful strategies, and background information.
You can find this information in our selection of the best investment books for beginners:
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing – Benjamin Graham
Arguably one of the greatest investment advisers of all time, Benjamin Graham provides a beginner's guide stacked with a wealth of knowledge in The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing.
You’ll learn to:
- Develop successful, long-term investment strategies
- Prevent making costly errors
- Understand Graham’s winning philosophies and how they apply to the current market
Graham’s strategy and philosophy have remained highly relevant for 70 years; his book is referred to as the ‘stock market Bible’ for good reason.
You can buy The Intelligent Investor here.
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns – John Bogle
Ideal for beginners, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing shows you how to get more out of the market. John Bogle founded The Vanguard Group, and is credited with creating the first index fund.
John C. Bogle describes in detail:
- How to buy and hold a mutual fund that tracks a stock market index like the S&P 500
- One of the simplest and most effective investment strategies
- How to build wealth over time with lower overall risk
Note: the 10th-anniversary edition includes two new chapters on asset allocation & retirement investing, plus a wealth of updated information.
First published in 2007, Bogle's investment philosophy has stood firm and remained effective over the years for both beginners and seasoned investors alike.
You can buy The Little Book of Common Sense Investing here.
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Investors and Managers – Warren E. Buffet & Lawrence A. Cunningham
When Warren Buffett speaks, investors listen. Having amassed over $100 billion, his approach to investing and management has generated substantial wealth for his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Investor and Managers consists of:
- A curated selection of Buffett’s original annual letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway
- Author and scholar, Lawrence A. Cunningham’s commentaries
- Buffett’s approach to and philosophy for investing
You can buy The Essays of Warren Buffet: Lessons for Investors and Managers here.
The Little Book That Still Beats the Market – Joel Greenblatt
With over 300,000 copies in print, the international bestseller The Little Book That Beats the Market is widely recognized as one of the best investing books.
Joel Greenblatt explores:
- Strategies for outperforming market averages
- Buying stock in good businesses and at low prices
- Basic principles and strategies of successful investing
- Step-by-step overview of value investing
Greenblatt provides you with a solid investment strategy that you can understand and stick to in the long term.
You can buy The Little Book That Still Beats the Market here.
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing – Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer & Michael LeBoeuf
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing is an extensive DIY handbook that’ll show you how to develop your own investment strategy using the proven methods of John C. Bogle.
By using the methods that have worked for thousands of investors, you’ll learn how to:
- Invest effectively
- Lower your risk
- Diversify your portfolio
If you're looking for a road map to successful investing that contains expert guidance and sound advice, this is probably one of the best books on investing you'll ever read.
You can buy The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing here.
Best books on investing for stock traders
It’s no secret that stock trading can be extremely lucrative. It can, however, be quite challenging.
Our selection of the best books on stock investing will guide you toward easier and more successful investing:
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing – Burton Malkiel
In A Random Walk Down Wall Street, author, economist, financial advisor, and successful investor Burton Malkiel explains how you can outperform professional investors with a range of diversified index funds.
You'll also learn to:
- Analyse the potential returns for stocks and bonds, index funds, commodities, and more
- Understand the recent bubble in cryptocurrencies
- Grow your portfolio while limiting your risk
Malkiel’s time-tested and extensively researched strategy makes this one of the best stock investing books.
You can buy A Random Walk Down Wall Street here.
How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad – William J. O’Neill
Over the years, William J O'Neill's formidable CAN SLIM investing system has helped over 2,000,000 investors to successfully grow their portfolios.
If you're serious about making money on the stock market, How to Make Money in Stocks is well worth a look.
You’ll learn:
- The seven-step strategy for making a maximum profit with minimal risk
- How to find winning stocks at bargain prices
- How to pick the best stocks, index funds, and mutual funds for the most profit
Ultimately, How to Make Money in Stocks gives you all the tools you need to become – and remain – a successful stock market investor.
You can buy How to Make Money in Stocks here.
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders – Jack D. Schwager
What better way to learn money making than from some of the world’s best traders?
In Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders, Author Jack D. Schwager interviews dozens of top traders including Richard Dennis, Paul Tudor Jones, Marty Schwartz, Bruce Kovner, and more.
Through the industry’s most successful minds, Market Wizards teaches you the principles you can use to become a successful trader yourself.
You can buy Market Wizards here.
Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom – Van K. Tharp
Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom is a must-read that goes further than just giving you a strategy to follow. In it, Van K. Tharp describes his 17-step model that you can use to develop your own profitable trading system.
He also shows you:
- How to evaluate trading systems based on their risk to reward ratio
- The ins and outs of risk, position-sizing, macroeconomics, and various stock trading models
- How your trading style, goals, psychology, and personality determine success
Perhaps the most crucial point of all, Tharp shows that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to trading.
You can buy Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom here.
One Up on Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money in the Market – Peter Lynch
The former fund manager of Fidelity's multibillion-dollar Magellan mutual fund, Peter Lynch describes how he reached his massive success in One Up on Wall Street.
In One Up on Wall Street, Lynch covers:
- Straightforward strategies to finding the right stocks
- Reviewing financial statements and reading the figures
- Finding lucrative opportunities in local businesses
By investing in local businesses, Lynch asserts you'll be able to invest in fast-growing companies that could grow 10 times or more and make your portfolio grow with them.
You can buy One Up on Wall Street here.
Best books about investing for asset allocators & indexers
Some say that the key to successful investing is effective asset allocation. To maximise returns and minimise risk, it’s important to have a diversified portfolio.
To learn these strategies, take a look at our selection of the best books for investing in assets:
All About Asset Allocation – Richard Ferri
Diversification is crucial, not only to limit risk but also to increase returns. For this reason, an effective asset allocation strategy is vital.
In All About Asset Allocation, Richard Ferri will explore:
- How to diversify your portfolio
- Implementing a successful asset-allocation system
- Developing an asset allocation strategy to suit your goals, needs, and requirements
- Selecting the right assets and how asset classes can work together
By understanding effective asset allocation, you’ll be able to know when, why, and how to change your asset allocation strategy as circumstances evolve.
You can buy All About Asset Allocation here.
The Little Book that Still Saves Your Assets – David M. Darst
High net worth individuals and financial institutions use effective asset allocation strategies to grow their assets at low risk.
In The Little Book that Still Saves Your Assets, David M. Darst shows you strategies to increase your returns, minimise your risk, and achieve your investing goals.
By learning and studying the strategies presented by Darst, you'll be able to better manage your money in today’s tough investment climate by using the right mix of stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, commodities, and other assets.
You can buy The Little Book that Still Saves Your Assets here.
The Intelligent Asset Allocator – William Bernstein
In today's markets, successful investing is more challenging and risky than ever before. One of the best ways to navigate these challenges is to have a robust and diversified portfolio of assets.
In The Intelligent Asset Allocator, one of the best books for investing in assets, self-taught investor William Bernstein covers:
- How to develop and manage such a portfolio for long-term success
- Strategies for improving your risk/reward ratio
- Optimal asset allocation
- How to implement your strategy
You can buy The Intelligent Asset Allocator here.
The Sector Strategist: Using New Allocation Techniques to Reduce Risk and Improve Investment Returns – Timothy J. McIntosh
Due to the shifting market climate, it may be time to reconsider investment strategies and break away from outdated concepts. That is exactly what Timothy J. McIntosh suggests in The Sector Strategist.
In his book, McIntosh challenges inaccurate and outdated investment assumptions, providing:
- Concrete information for analysing the different sectors
- Insight into which sectors have performed better historically
- Alternative investment opportunities for further diversification
Ultimately, the knowledge within The Sector Strategist will allow you to grow your portfolio and reduce your risk.
You can buy The Sector Strategist here.
Best investment strategy books
It’s simple: to be a successful investor, you need an effective investment strategy.
A proper strategy lets you find the right assets to invest in, limits your risk, and increases your chances of making a profit.
To learn some of the best strategies there are, take a look at our selection of the best investment books to read:
The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World – Robert G. Hagstrom
If you want to be a successful investor, simply emulate Buffet, his philosophies, and his investment and business strategies.
That is what The Warren Buffett Way enables you to do. It describes:
- The psychological foundations of Buffett's investment approach
- How to think like a long-term investor
- How to behave rationally despite market uncertainty
With his extensive knowledge and economic prowess, Buffett sets you up for greater investment success.
You can buy The Warren Buffett Way here.
Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment – David F. Swensen
In Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment, investing legend and best-selling author David F. Swenson goes against conventional advice.
In contrast, he promotes investing in a well-diversified, equity-oriented portfolio and avoiding actively managed and poorly constructed mutual funds to create an environment where you can thrive.
In doing so, you’ll avoid:
- Excessive management fees
- Portfolio churning
- Increased tax liabilities
Simply put, Unconventional Success gives you all the tools and information you need to secure and improve your financial future.
You can buy Unconventional Success here.
What Works on Wall Street: The Classic Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time – James O’Shaughnessy
All too often, we listen to so-called “experts” for investment advice, only to find out that their strategies don't work. This is what What Works on Wall Street wants to eliminate.
James O’Shaughnessy’s in-depth guide covers:
- Seeing the market in context
- The customary highs and lows of market investing
- Proven strategies for increasing returns
What Works on Wall Street is one of the top investing books if you want objective facts and effective strategies for success.
You can buy What Works on Wall Street here.
Investment Titans: Investment Insights from the Minds that Move Wall Street – Jonathan Burton
In Investment Titans, nine of the greatest financial minds including John C. Bogle, William Sharpe, and Paul Samuelson detail the foundations and strategies of becoming an intelligent investor.
Through their wisdom and experience, you’ll learn that the fundamentals of successful investing stay the same despite changing market conditions.
By understanding these fundamentals, you’ll learn:
- How to choose the right stocks for your portfolio
- How to manage risk
- How risk influences your investments
- Where to find the right information for big investment decisions.
Through his experience, Jonathan Burton gives you the insights you need to make your investments more profitable.
You can buy Investment Titans here.
Key takeaways on the best investing books
As they say, knowledge is power – with investing, this is certainly the case.
To empower yourself with the knowledge you need, there’s arguably no better way than through reading some of the best investing books available in 2021.
Hopefully, this post has given you an idea of some of the best books on investing available today. All you need to do is pick one and start investing.
If you don't have time to read a whole book, why not try this:
How to Invest in Stocks: A Simple & Clear 7-Step Beginner's Guide
Did you know that if you have money in the bank, you’re already investing? Learn to invest that money for yourself, and you can make lots more in the long run!
With this simple beginner's guide, you’ll learn all the basics to start investing and build a solid understanding of the key concepts.
You’ll also be guided on:
- Deciding what stocks to invest in
- Knowing how much to invest
- Understanding how stocks work
- Selling at a profit
- Holding investments for the right amount of time
If you want to start investing but don’t have enough hours in the day to read the books listed here, read this article for a thorough rundown of the essentials.
Remember: you don’t need to be a well-read stock market genius before you begin investing!
Other ways to learn how to start investing include stock market simulators, investment apps and stock market courses.
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