J. Collins

The author shares his personal techniques, insights and experiences regarding saving money and investing, drawn from his blog posts as well as a series of letters to his teenage daughter, both dealing with money management.

Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life

The Simple Path to Wealth

Damian Makki

Some seek absolute security, but it simply doesn’t exist.

Stocks: VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund). Stocks provide the best returns over time and serve as our inflation hedge. This is our core wealth-building tool. (See Chapter 17 for variants of this same fund.) 2. Bonds: VBTLX (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund). Bonds provide income, tend to smooth out the rough ride of stocks and serve as our deflation hedge.

But during periods of inflation, anything you want to buy will cost more tomorrow than today. You have an incentive to buy that house (or car or appliance or loaf of bread) today and beat the price increase. Delay is punished with higher prices later and action now is rewarded. Buyers become ever more motivated. Sellers become ever more reluctant. Too much of this and the market slips into a deadly spiral of increasingly worthless currency people are desperate to exchange for goods.

The market always recovers. Always. And, if someday it really doesn’t, no investment will be safe and none of this financial stuff will matter anyway.

The point is that to play this market timing game well even once, you need to be right twice: First you need to call the high. Then you need to call the low.

One of my very few regrets is that I spent far too much time worrying about how things might work out. It’s a huge waste, but it is a bit hardwired into me. Don’t do it.

It’s a great book, while it might seem repetitive I actually think, as a personal finance nerd, that it contains the right material - overall I recommend this book to everyone.

Jacopo Nardiello

Ivan Vega

Very repetitive and super focused on the US but great information nonetheless and most of it is usable elsewhere with some research.

Jeni Enjaian

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I received it for Christmas after forgetting that I had placed it on my wish list. (I place so many books on my wishlist and quickly forget that I have done so. I often say that I have swiss cheese brain.)
I have always been a bit of a numbers nerd and this book appealed to every part of that. While I am extremely risk averse and will likely only dip my toe in the investment pool if I even approach it at all, I really loved reading and learning about it. Collins has an easy, approachable style yet does not dumb down the information so that others are "able to read it." I love that he is anything but condescending.
This book did not earn five stars from me for a couple reasons. One, while I do not read Collins' blog, I believe that most of this book came from the blog and several times throughout the book it appears as if he is repeating himself not realizing that he already mentioned that. Two, Collins does explain that he is not sponsored by Vanguard in any way. However, he mentions Vanguard enough throughout the book for a reader to become highly suspicious. Perhaps Vanguard is the only investment company out there with the type of index fund that Collins cites. I am not familiar enough with the industry to make a judgement.
That being said, I am very thankful that I own this book and will likely return to it as I progress in my career and my finances stabilize a little more.

Adam

It's rare for me to read a financial book and nod in agreement so much. Even still J.L. Collins presented a few ideas that challenged my own view on investing - which was happily unexpected. In addition to index fund investing and taking advantage of tax-free growth, two areas he mentioned stood out as things I've advised that he recommends against: dollar cost averaging and international funds. If the market grows more often than not over time, then why DCA? If international markets overwhelmingly track the US market, why invest in intl? Both good questions that i don't have great answers to. Either way, they got me thinking.

Hugo Ahlberg

I had already read the whole blog series (which is still free, just google Stock Series) so this read through was more of a refresher. It's great. It covers the basics and has all you need to get started with long term investing in index funds and why that is the best method for most to reach financial independence.

Joe Zimet

Luis Cascante

Casper Oppenhuis de Jong

Jl Collins

"In the dark, bewildering, trap-infested jungle of misinformation and opaque riddles that is the world of investment, JL Collins is the fatherly wizard on the side of the path, offering a simple map, warm words of encouragement and the tools to forge your way through with confidence. You'll never find a wiser advisor with a bigger heart." -- Malachi Rempen: Filmmaker, cartoonist, author and self-described ruffian This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things-mostly about money and investing-she was not yet quite ready to hear. Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical. "But Dad," she once said, "I know money is important. I just don't want to spend my life thinking about it." This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run. Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms. Here's an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective. The simple approach I created for her and present now to you, is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other. Together we'll explore: Debt: Why you must avoid it and what to do if you have it. The importance of having F-you Money. How to think about money, and the unique way understanding this is key to building your wealth. Where traditional investing advice goes wrong and what actually works. What the stock market really is and how it really works. Why the stock market always goes up and why most people still lose money investing in it. How to invest in a raging bull, or bear, market. Specific investments to implement these strategies. The Wealth Building and Wealth Preservation phases of your investing life and why they are not always tied to your age. How your asset allocation is tied to those phases and how to choose it. How to simplify the sometimes confusing world of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA and Roth accounts. TRFs (Target Retirement Funds), HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) and RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions). What investment firm to use and why the one I recommend is so far superior to the competition. Why you should be very cautious when engaging an investment advisor and whether you need to at all. Why and how you can be conned, and how to avoid becoming prey. Why I don't recommend dollar cost averaging. What financial independence looks like and how to have your money support you. What the 4% rule is and how to use it to safely spend your wealth. The truth behind Social Security. A Case Study on how this all can be implemented in real life. Enjoy the read, and the journey!

The Simple Path to Wealth Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life

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