The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor

Seize control of your financial future with rock-solid advice from two of the world’s leading investment experts Investors today are bombarded with conflicting advice about how to handle the increasingly volatile stock market. From pronouncements of the “death of diversification” to the supposed virtues of crypto, investors can be forgiven for being thoroughly confused. It’s time to return to the basics. In the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor, investment legends Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis deliver straightforward, digestible lessons in the investment rules and principles you need to follow to mitigate risk and realize long-term success in the markets. Divided into six essential elements of investing, this concise book will teach you how to: Focus on the long-term and ignore short-term market fluctuations and movements Use employer-sponsored plans to supercharge your savings and returns and minimize your taxes Understand crucial investment subjects, like diversification, rebalancing, dollar-cost averaging, and indexing So, forget the flavor of the week. Stick with the timeless and invaluable advice followed by the world’s most successful retail investors.

Table of Contents:
Preface to Anniversary Edition xi Foreword to Original Edition xv Foreword to the Anniversary Edition xix Introduction xxi It All Starts with Saving 1 I. Save 3 First Do No Harm 5 Start Saving Early: Time is Money 6 The Amazing Rule of 72 7 Savvy Savings 11 Small Savings Tips 14 Big Ways to Save 15 Let the Government Help You Save 17 Own Your Home 18 How Do I Catch Up? 19 II. Index 23 Nobody Knows More Than the Market 24 The Index Fund Solution 27 Don’t Some Beat the Market? 29 Index Bonds 33 Index Internationally 34 Index Funds Have Big Advantages 36 One Warning 37 Confession 39 III. Diversify 41 Diversify Across Asset Classes 43 Diversify Across Markets 46 Diversify Over Time 47 Rebalance 51 IV. Avoid Blunders 57 Overconfidence 59 Beware of Mr. Market 61 The Penalty of Timing 65 More Mistakes 66 Minimize Costs 67 V. Keep It Simple 71 Review of Basic Rules 72 Asset Allocation 79 Asset Allocation Ranges 81 Investing in Retirement 85 Getting Specific 86 VI. Timeless Lessons for Troubled Times 95 Volatility and Dollar-Cost Averaging 97 Diversification is Still a Time-Honored Strategy to Reduce Risk 99 Rebalancing 101 Diversification and Rebalancing Together 103 Index at Least the Core of Your Portfolio 104 Fine-Tuning a Bond Diversification Strategy 107 A Final Thought 111 A Super Simple Summary: KISS Investing 113 Appendix: Save on Taxes Legally 115 Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) 115 Roth IRAs 117 Pension Plans 118 Tax-Advantaged Saving for Education 120 Recommended Reading 123 Acknowledgments 125 About the Authors 127 Index 129

About the Author :
BURTON G. MALKIEL is the Chemical BankChairman’s Professor of Economics Emeritus at Princeton University and the author of the bestselling A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Malkiel has served on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, as dean of the Yale School of Management, as chair of Princeton’s Economics Department, and as a director of major corporations. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Wealthfront. CHARLES D. ELLIS is a consultant to large public and private institutional investors. For three decades, he was managing partner of Greenwich Associates, the international business strategy consulting firm. He has taught investing at both Harvard and Yale and is the author of seventeen books, including the bestselling Winning the Loser’s Game.