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Investing 101

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Investing 101

Bloomberg Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

Investment greenhorns: Read this book — Now!

Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Investment greenhorns: Read this book - Now! Can we be any clearer? Kathy Kristof has written the ideal manual for anyone mystified by the world of finance. Her clear, fact-filled book completely dispenses with the condescending tone and soothing jabber of most books in the how-to-invest genre. In their place, Kristof has compiled an enlightening compendium of elementary investment wisdom, lucid explanations of financial terms and instruments, and educational walk-thrus of stock-valuation techniques. Simply put: If you are not investing, you must read this book. Whether it’s fear, ignorance or inertia that’s keeping you out of the markets, Investing 101 will inspire you to put your money to work by revealing, in easy-to-understand language, exactly how it all really works. getabstract recommends this book as required reading for any beginner investors, or to anyone who feels intimidated by a lack of financial knowledge.

Summary

Get Over It

If you can follow straightforward directions, investing will not trouble you. Unfortunately, many people can’t follow even the most logical instructions because they have developed bad habits that prevent them from investing wisely. If you want more money than regrets in your old age, you need to get over these psychological hurdles.

Bad Investing Habits of Women

Political correctness not withstanding, bad investing habits can be grouped along gender lines. Women are more likely to suffer from these:

  • The poor girl - It is true that on average women do earn less than men. If women earned more money, it would be easier to save. But life isn’t always fair, so get over it. How many times have you bought lunch at work when you could have packed a lunch? As long as you have a job that pays you enough to be over the poverty line, you can afford to invest. Spend two dollars less per day and you will have $60 a month to invest.
  • The substitution shopper - Do you shop in order to lift your spirits? If fights with your boss result in a shopping trip, you will find your credit card balance rising faster than your spirits. To walk away from...

About the Author

Kathy Kristof is a business writer for the Los Angeles Times. Her twice-weekly personal finance column reaches 40 million readers through more than 50 major newspapers.

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