Investing QuickStart Guide - 2nd Edition

By Ted D. Snow CFP MBA

The Best Selling QuickStart Guide, Now In an Updated and Expanded 2nd Edition – Over 100 Pages of New Content, Including Updates to Reflect the Realities of Investing

The ONLY investing book that is written by a CFP® practitioner with 30+ years of investment experience.

THE ULTIMATE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO INVESTING!

Do you want to learn how to make your hard-earned money work for you?

Are you interested in learning how to create real wealth by harnessing the power of the stock market?

Have you ever dreamed of using stock market investing to create passive income retire early?

A robust investment strategy forms the basis of any wealth building journey—if your money isn’t working hard on your behalf, it’s slowly being devalued by inflation. It has never been easier—or more important—for everyday investors to get started investing in the stock market.

Bestselling author, advisor, and financial industry veteran Ted D. Snow CFP®, MBA brings over 30 years of experience to the pages of Investing QuickStart Guide. Presented in plain English and written with new investors in mind, Investing QuickStart Guide proves that with the right guidance anyone can find investing success and build the financial freedom we all deserve.

WHAT'S NEW IN INVESTING 2ND EDITION?With over 100 pages of new material, Investing QuickStart Guide is updated and revised for an entirely new investing environment and includes:

• A deeper dive into the asset classes that make up a robust portfolio including a thorough and expanded examination of investable real estate
• An increased focus on managing—and reducing—your tax liabilities related to investment activities in light of new tax law developments
• A tour of the pros and cons of new and emerging finance technologies (aka fintech) and an increased focus on ESG investing—the practice of Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance sustainable investing.

Discover the Secrets of Successfully Investing In:

• Stocks (Including Dividend Paying Stocks!)
• Mutual Funds
• ETFS
• Bonds
• Index Funds
• REITS and Real Estate
• Commodities

Investing QuickStart Guide is Perfect For:

• Beginners with Zero Prior Investing Experience

• Reading alongside other popular financial books such as The Intelligent Investor, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and The Little Book of Common-Sense Investing

• Experienced Investors who Want to Go to the Next Level

• Teaching anyone to invest in the stock market – even kids and teens!

Investing QuickStart Guide Covers:

• Everything You Need to Know Before You Make Your First Trade!

• How To Take Advantage of Opportunities in the Market Without Relying on Guesswork!

• How to Evaluate and Compare Stocks and Other Securities!

• Language: English
• Publisher: ClydeBank Media LLC
• Release date: Jan 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636100296

Ted D. Snow CFP MBA

Ted D. Snow, CFP®, MBA is a best-selling author, a 30+ year finance industry veteran, and the founding principal at Snow Financial Group, LLC. He has been featured in numerous outlets such as CNBC, Investopedia, Forbes, Kiplingers and Yahoo! Finance

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The superscript letters found throughout this book correspond to the disclosure statements found on page 273.

Table of Contents

Cover

Contents

Introduction

From Websterville to Dallas—My Story

The Risks of Not Investing

Knowing When to Start Investing

How This Book Is Organized

New in This Edition

Chapter by Chapter

PART I - KEY ASSET CLASSES

| 1 | Asset Mix

Understanding Asset Allocation

Asset Allocation in Major Investment Categories

| 2 | Stocks

The Basics of the Stock Market

Common Stocks vs. Preferred Stocks

Other Ways to Categorize Stock

Reading Stock Tickers and Stock Tables

Essential Stock Metrics

Buying and Selling Stocks

Key Stock Market Indexes

Bull and Bear Markets

| 3 | Bonds

Term Length and Interest Rate

Implications of an Inverted Yield Curve

How Bonds Are Traded

| 4 | Real Estate

Advantages of Investing in Real Estate

Managing Risks Associated with Real Estate

Different Ways to Invest in Real Estate

Why Your Home Is Not an Investment

Financing, Managing, and Protecting Your Investment

PART II - Investment Strategies and Tactics

| 5 | Using Time to Grow Your Wealth

Understanding Returns

Accounting for Inflation

Determining an Appropriate Asset Mix

Index Investing and Mutual Funds

Exchange-Traded Funds

Other Funds and Investments

| 6 | Investment Strategies

Picking the Right Stocks

Buying on Down Days

Dollar Cost Averaging

Bear Market Strategies

| 7 | The Short Game

Day Trading

Options Trading

Buying Stocks on Margin

Short Selling

Penny Stocks

Forex

Commodities Futures

| 8 | Investment Psychology

The Expanding Field of Behavioral Finance

The Seduction of Market Timing

Other Stumbling Blocks to Avoid

PART III - GETTING IN THE GAME

| 9 | Decision Time

How to Choose a Stock, ETF, or Other Security

Theories, History, and Lessons

Paying Attention to Your Investments

| 10 | Choose Your Investment Services

Finding a Financial Advisor

Internet-Based Investment Services

Robo-Advisors

Follow and Trade Stocks with Mobile Apps

| 11 | Tax Planning

Types of Investment Taxes

Understanding Bonds and Taxes

Tax Implications of Traditional and Roth IRAs

Tax Advantages of Real Estate Investing

| 12 | The Changing World

How Is Fintech Used?

How Fintech Affects the Stock Market

Investing in Fintech

| 13 | Beyond Profit

Why You Do Not Need to Sacrifice Profit

Resources for Ethical Investing

Use Institutional Investors as a Guiding Light

A Word of Warning about Ethical Investing

| 14 | Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom

The FIRE Movement

Living Below Your Means

Investment Strategies for Financial Independence

Conclusion

About the Author

About ClydeBank Media

Glossary

Disclosures

References

Introduction

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with the 130 IQ.

– WARREN BUFFETT

A lot on the financial landscape has changed in the three years since I wrote the first edition of this book. A surge in technology affecting nearly every aspect of finance, the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, a global pandemic, and other events have profoundly changed the way people, businesses, governments, and other institutions pay bills, conduct banking, borrow money, buy investments, and handle other financial business.

While advances in financial technology, or fintech, had already taken hold, the pandemic greatly hastened its application for many businesses and consumers looking for contactless transactions and communication. Financial institutions also had to pivot quickly as many banks were forced to shut their doors to customers during lockdown periods and tumultuous markets kept investors guessing.

Financial education has always been important, but it is arguably more so now than ever as new innovations in finances and investing rise to meet the needs and capture the attention of a new generation of investors. I have always been surprised at how little formal academic curriculum is available that’s devoted to training our youth on the importance of saving and investing—even at the college level. Financial education is too often a solitary pursuit, with students forced to rely on advice from investment gurus, television personalities, and, yes, authors who are not licensed in the financial field but are simply trying to get readers to subscribe to their stock-picking service. While there are a variety of good investment books out there, many of which are referenced and discussed in this book, beginner-friendly books with information presented in a clear, unbiased, and understandable manner seem to be in short supply.

The first edition of Investing QuickStart Guide was well-received by readers, who said they benefited significantly from the material it provided. While I didn’t expect to revise the book just three years after writing it, I found I couldn’t shake the feeling that readers needed to be kept informed about the rapid and profound changes occurring in the areas of investing and other aspects of finance. A talk with my editors confirmed my belief that updates to the book would benefit readers, and the second edition was launched. It is my hope that you will find it useful and that you and your portfolio will benefit from reading it.

Much about investing has changed since I wrote the first edition of this book, but the essentials have not. Good investing is not about hindsight. It’s not about looking back and kicking yourself because you didn’t buy Netflix stock in 2010 when it sold for about $22 a share, as compared to nearly $547 a share as I am writing this. No one in 2010 could have predicted a global pandemic a decade later that would send demand for streaming services soaring—and Netflix stock along with that demand. When it comes to investing, time is the ultimate storyteller and the sole arbiter of success and failure.

Good investing is about knowing what you own and why you own it while making simple, sound, and disciplined decisions right now, in the present. It is about making decisions in a way that lays the groundwork for wealth accumulation and a strong, secure financial future. It is not about predicting market behavior and timing the markets, which, as evidence shows, is at best a waste of energy, and at worst, potentially disastrous for your portfolio.

You can spend all the energy you want trying to time the market and guessing when the value of certain stocks will rise and fall. For my money, I will do my homework, understand the companies in which I’m investing, buy stock, and trust that its value will increase, building wealth over time.

What I hope you’ll get from this book is an eyes-forward, feet-on-the-ground approach to investing, with an emphasis on long-term wealth-building strategy. I am not a speculator and I do not spend hours poring over stock charts trying to spot trends. What I do is as simple as paying attention to the securities in which I invest. I buy when a security is being undervalued by the market, and I sell when it seems to be overvalued. I seek out opportunities to diversify and maximize potential returns. I am a consummate investor, not a trader, and if you are not clear on the distinction, you will be by the time you finish this book.

Though my personal investment philosophy is threaded throughout the text, I strive to present information in an objective and highly readable manner. You’ll find easy-to-reference chapter headings and a glossary of terms that make it easy to skip around if there are certain areas where you need more help. If you are brand-new to investing, I do recommend reading the book straight through, as we have done our best to introduce topics and vocabulary in a logical, sequenced manner that lends itself to easy learning. The goal of this text is, after all, to be the quintessential beginner’s guide to investing. Nevertheless, given the range of topics analyzed and discussed, more experienced investors are sure to learn a thing or two as well.

While I am familiar with almost all types of investments, my personal expertise is in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the kinds of securities that in my judgment are prudent and appropriate for all levels of investors. Though we will briefly touch on commodities, futures, options, penny stocks, and the forex market, this book’s primary focus will be on public stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. We will not be covering private equity investing, angel investing, or self-managed real estate investments.

Having launched and managed my own financial services company, I have had the privilege of helping numerous individuals of varying backgrounds pursue and achieve their financial goals, and I hope that through this book I can do the same for you. Before we get started, though, I’d like to tell you my personal story, which inspired and has shaped my career, my value system, and how I live my life.

From Websterville to Dallas—My Story

I’ve been intrigued with how money works ever since I got my first passbook savings account when I was five. A passbook account is a type of savings account you open at a bank that comes with a small, paper book called a passbook into which deposits and withdrawals are recorded. Passbook accounts have pretty much gone the way of black-and-white TVs, although some banks still offer them. I’m not sure how it happened, but my DNA must have had financial concepts and dollar signs embedded into it, as my strategies went way beyond what one might expect in the management of a five-year-old’s savings account. I was always thinking about how to maximize my resources. As the years rolled on, I would watch my sister pay full price for vinyl record albums, while I spent pennies on blank cassette tapes and recorded the songs from her albums when she wasn’t home to catch me.

When I was in sixth grade at Webster Elementary School, I was chosen to run the Bank of Websterville. Websterville was a little model city set up on the third floor of the school building. It contained a general store, a café, a clothing store, and other businesses, all operated by students who appeared suited to the role of proprietor. As the banker, I deposited the profits (which we called Websterville dollars) into the bank accounts of other business-minded youngsters and helped my fellow students make withdrawals for the purchase of Laffy Taffy and Blow Pops at the general store.

At the end of the sixth-grade school year we were able to cash in our Websterville dollars for real money. I, of course, had broken the record for the highest bank account balance Websterville had ever seen, and I was extremely excited to claim my fortune. Ripping open the envelope that contained my hard-earned profits, I was dismayed to discover that after my Websterville money was converted to real money, my two-hundred-dollar account had shrunk to just twenty dollars—my first harsh lesson in currency exchange.

My life in those days was simple—playing basketball and baseball and riding bikes, never thinking about real household budgetary and financial matters. I was content in the secure love of my parents and the ways they provided for us. My dad worked in a noble profession as a construction equipment operator and my mom as a seamstress, but to help save money, my sister and I had to share our bottles of RC Cola. To boost my share, I made sure to use less ice in my glass, which I knew would displace my total supply of cola. By sight, our cups looked the same—little did she know! Like I said earlier, maximizing resources was my specialty! As though God were configuring my mind for a future as a financial planner, I constantly engrossed myself in complex puzzles, analyzing and organizing all the pieces of a plan to create an effective and productive design.

Living lean as a child had instilled in me a different perspective about money, one that remains to this day. I was grateful to have a new pair of basketball shoes each season. I viewed getting a triple-decker cherry vanilla ice cream cone at Thrifty Drug Store as a special treat. My parents met all our needs, and even some of our wants, but their experiences in the Great Depression instilled in them a frugal approach to finances that they passed down to me. Growing up in a small suburb of Salt Lake City with other lower-middle-income families, I never thought for a minute I was missing out. I was happy, I knew my parents loved me, and I knew only one way to live—simple and content with what we had.

With college on the horizon and knowing my parents couldn’t pay for it, I started a serious path to saving at age sixteen, working summer construction and stocking shelves. By the time I enrolled in junior college, I had saved 100 percent of the cost of an associate degree. With those savings, I was able to realize my dream of majoring in business and minoring in economics at Utah State, finishing my degree with no student debt and $4,000 remaining in my bank account. From there, I landed my first financial position at Fidelity Investments with a starting salary of a whopping $15,000 per year. After moving to Dallas for my new job, I took full advantage of Fidelity’s generous 401(k) matching contributions as well as the tuition reimbursement plan, which allowed me to complete by MBA degree in personal financial planning at the University of Dallas, again graduating debt-free. I gained valuable experience in investing and money management while working for Fidelity, and I personally applied that newfound knowledge by maximizing my 401(k) investments every year. By the time I turned twenty-eight, my salary was $30,000 and my 401(k) portfolio had reached $100,000. I celebrated achieving that goal with Mexican food and margaritas. Life was good.

In April 1994 my family experienced the sudden and tragic death of my dad. In one terrible day, my mother lost both her husband and the $35,000-a-year pension that would have provided for her. Due to some poor financial advice from a wealthy friend, my dad had unknowingly left my mother in poverty. On his pension paperwork, there were two choices: a life only benefit that pays out while that person is still alive and a joint-and-survivor payout that would have taken care of my mother. Acting on his friend’s advice, my dad had checked the life only pension box, leaving my mother without a pension and with social security as her only source of income. I was seventeen years old when my father made this decision, and now at age thirty there was nothing I could do to change it. It haunted me that instead of finding a professional financial advisor to counsel him regarding his pension, my father had relied on the advice of an ill-informed acquaintance and my mother was left to suffer the repercussions. It’s a story I hope will serve as a warning to everyone.

That tragic situation filled me with new motivation for my financial career. My goal became one of helping people not to make major financial mistakes that would snowball into unintended, devastating consequences for themselves and others. The stark reality of how many people make ill-informed and financially damaging decisions fueled a passion in me to start my own financial planning practice. From my Dallas Fidelity call center cubicle, I suddenly realized the importance of providing face-to-face advice and earnestly counseling clients on a wide breadth of practical and often critical financial decisions, not just offering them the narrow path of investment options and limited advice that Fidelity allowed.

In 1997 I took a leap of faith away from the comforts of my salaried position at Fidelity to start my own practice. I knew I did not want to be poor, and I didn’t want any of my future clients to struggle financially. Armed with excellent client servicing skills, investing experience, and an MBA, I started a business based on face-to-face, relationship-based consulting. Today I serve a diverse and wonderful group of families from all over the country with their financial and investment planning needs. Over time I have come to view money as a tool for serving myself and others, rather than as something to be served. I learned how to refuse to be a slave to the grind by which money is accumulated. I realized that from the beginning, all of this good work had been laid out for me as part of a plan for myself and my clients, many of whom have become like family.

The Risks of Not Investing

When I first started my business as a financial advisor, I was surprised at how many would-be investors stayed away from the stock market because they didn’t want to put their hard-earned money at risk. I understand that risk is a particularly important factor that investors should seriously consider, but it is not in and of itself a good reason for keeping your cash hidden under your mattress when it could be working for you in the market. While there are risks associated with investing, there also is risk in not investing. Two of the biggest risk factors are lost growth opportunity and inflation.

Lost Growth Opportunity

If we average out the performance of the stock market since the New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792, we’ll observe a reliable annual return on investment equating to approximately 7 percent. Nevertheless, many new investors view the stock market as riskier than it actually is. Driving this irrational fear is a very real phenomenon known as stock market volatility, which is a measure of the degree to which the market’s overall value moves up and down. In the context of the stock market, volatility refers to the degree to which a stock’s price (or the price of a market as a whole) fluctuates. Major collapses are rare, but they do happen. Some memorable collapses include the famous 20 percent loss in October of 1929 that kicked off the Great Depression, and what has become known as Black Monday in 1987, when various circumstances undermined investor confidence and markets around the world plummeted. We also saw collapses in 2001/2002 when the dot-com bubble burst, 2008/2009 when the housing bubble burst, and the recent March 2020 crash in reaction to fears about the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these crashes affected the net worth of countless investors and left a dramatic trust gap between Wall Street and Main Street.

But in each of these major market collapses, the majority of investors who held their positions and waited for the market to recover were able to recoup their losses and then some. I have personally experienced several of the downturns listed in figure 1, from Black Monday through COVID-19, and I was able to build a lot of wealth for myself and my clients by swooping up stocks at rock-bottom prices and holding them until their value returned. While recovery times vary, it took only four months for the most recent US equities market to get back to its pre-crash level in 2020.

Source: BofA Global Investment Strategy, Bloomberg

Stock market calamities and tales of Wall Street greed make for powerful stories, which in turn can dissuade people from investing in the market. The stories that don’t get shared as often—unless you watch the business news channels or read books about investing like this one—are those about the millions of regular investors who have used sound techniques, avoided panic, and allowed their portfolio to flourish. In the fall of 2014, closely following the release of some bad press, the price of Walgreens stock fell from about $73 to $58. It’s funny, I don’t even remember the news story; it didn’t seem like a very big deal to me, and I was pretty sure it would do no lasting damage to this well-established business, but it did cause the market to react and people to sell off their stock. Without seeing any particular lasting outside threat to the fundamental value of Walgreens—in other words, a reason why their business would actually lose customers or money in the long term—I bought $12,000 worth of the company’s stock (about 200 shares) at a price close to $59 per share. By August 2015, about a year later, I sold out of the position at $86 per share for a 54 percent gain (a profit of about $6,500). A 54 percent gain over a year’s time is decent to begin with, but the fact that I used Walgreens stock to get there made this return even more satisfying. Usually, a 54 percent return in one year requires a riskier decision than buying stock in a well-known drugstore chain.

Being a competent investor means assessing the risks of investing alongside the risks of not investing. As I like to say, Safe is not always safe. Even if you choose to hold all your assets as cash in a bank account, you are still vulnerable to the persistent tide of inflation eating away at your net worth.

When assessing investment risk and reward, it is important to always think in terms of opportunity costs. Had I kept my $12,000 under my mattress rather than taking action after observing Walgreens being undervalued and unfairly punished by the market, then the cost of my inaction would have been $6,500 in lost profit. An opportunity cost is the value of the action you forgo in order to complete another action.

If you decide to keep your money in a savings account rather than investing it in a well-diversified portfolio of securities, then your potential opportunity cost is the loss of capital gains, dividends, and other earnings that could have been yours had you chosen to put your money to work for you in the market.

The Inflation Risk

Inflation refers to the decline in purchasing power of a unit of currency, leading to higher and higher prices for the same goods. Money left in a bank account for a long period of time is at risk because it may not be able to generate enough interest to outpace inflation. Since 1913, the average annual rate of inflation has been 3.15 percent. By contrast, the national average interest rate on savings accounts was just 0.04 percent in March 2021, according to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). In times like these, when interest rates are low, investing your money in stocks and other tradable financial assets, known as securities, offers a potential buffer against the persistent inflationary tide.

According to the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the average change in prices consumers pay over time for the same basket of goods, the equivalent value of $50,000 in 2000 was $78,890 in 2020. If you had set aside $50,000 in 2000 and let it sit—safe, but not earning any interest—its value would have declined by nearly $29,000 by 2020. And as your money sat there losing purchasing power, the price of goods continued to rise, due to inflation.

From a government perspective, a moderate amount of inflation over time is a good thing. Higher prices for goods and services can result in higher profits for businesses, which allows for competitive wages and expanded productivity. Inflation also boosts the price of business assets, real estate, etc., which keeps overhead and other costs of production under control. If inflation sets in too rapidly, however—outpacing the ability of the economy to produce—then you have too many dollars chasing too few goods and services. For example, right now, because of the combination of government fiscal stimulus and supply chain issues with getting goods and materials to market, we are experiencing the highest inflation growth since the early 1980s. Price inflation can lead to price distortion and dangerous economic misperceptions known as bubbles. Bubbles refer to the severe overvaluation of a certain good, service, or commodity due to hype, rumor, or various other forms of herd behavior—think of the real estate bubble of 2008, which was inflated by cheap mortgage loans. Bubbles, by definition, are destined to pop, even if it takes months or years. When a bubble pops, actual economic value asserts itself over inflated economic value, and the inflated prices collapse suddenly, often causing economic turmoil.

Like stock prices, rates of inflation can be highly volatile over time. Deflation, which occurs when fewer units of currency have the power to purchase more goods and services, may also set in, causing prices to decline. Unchecked deflation, just like unchecked inflation, can be damaging to the economy. When prices are too low, businesses have a harder time securing the profit margins they need in order to compensate their employees and expand their operations. Due to monetary and fiscal policies and other factors, however, inflation rather than deflation emerges as the most persistent phenomenon over time. You’ll learn more about inflation and what causes it in chapter 5.

Investing in the stock market provides a solution to the problem of lost cash value due to inflation. Even though the market is inherently volatile, stocks on average climb higher and higher in value over time. A look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1910 reveals a pattern of persistent growth (figure 2).

Of course, it is possible to experience enormous, even devastating losses in the stock market. Such losses often befall those who succumb to fear and sell out at the wrong time. But the patient, experienced investor, holding a diverse portfolio of well-qualified holdings, will know how to remain calm in down markets and allow the market the time it needs to recover. It’s imperative to remember that while your

Reviews for Investing QuickStart Guide - 2nd Edition

[lindoula-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very broad introduction to investing with a focus on the US investor. It covers more investment options than I even knew existed. It doesn't go into depth for most of them, however, so really do consider it an intro rather than a guide. There are extensive online resources to complement the actual book content, so pretty much any of these topics that you want to learn more about can be explored at your fingertips. While it may not get very detailed, for most topics it provides enough info for you to at least know the right questions to ask if you go to consult with an investment specialist.

[brianinbuffalo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a former business reporter at a daily newspaper and a lifelong investor, the words "simplified" and "beginner's guide" in the book's subtitle initially triggered concern. Would I find this book too rudimentary to give it a fair shake as an Early Reviewer? The concern was unwarranted. I was surprised how many things I learned and how much I benefited from numerous refresher courses on key principles. "Investing QuickStart Guide" takes the term "user-friendly" to new heights. Snow tackles complex topics in a way that won't intimidate beginning investors. A comprehensive glossary, index, source references and chapter summaries make this book impressively simple to navigate. Excellent graphics, dozens of short examples and break-out boxes called "My Take" that provide personal insights from the author are all value-added features. I also enjoyed the quotes that are sprinkled throughout the tome from luminaries that range from Albert Einstein to Warren Buffett. Chapters focus on everything from choosing investment services (i.e. robo-advisors versus humans), to red-flagging the 3 biggest blunders investors make (staying too conservative, starting too late and investing too little) .Snow also touches on annuities, value stocks versus growth stocks, day trading and penny stocks. Even a few philosophical issues are broached near the end, including "ethics and social responsibility through investing." If I had authored the book, I would likely have added a half-dozen or so more detailed narratives from real investors (similar to what Money Magazine has done so effectively in its personal finance profiles.) Snow's examples are typically more general and are confined to no more than 10 lines. But I nitpick. "Investing QuickStart Guide" is an excellent tool -- and not only for investment novices.

[nibbles_243 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very informative. Will definitely keep it for future reference. Thank you so much for picking me to review it.

[rufusraider · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the LibraryThing Book Review program in exchange for a fair and honest review.This Investing Quick Start Guide is a good entry level introduction to the basics of investing. It would also serve as a good refresher for the normal investor who wants to branch out into other types of securities.I found the book a little too basic for me. There are a lot of books aimed at this market. I would use this book in conjunction with other books to get different opinions on the various investing topics to get a well rounded perspective of the different types of securities.I reviewed the ebook version. The ability to view some of the tables was a little convoluted. Removing the big number alongside the tables and figures would have made some of the readable without opening or scrolling the table/figure.

[jerenda-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I admit I had trouble getting into this. It was too simplistic to me, but I was afraid to skip ahead because I didn't want to get lost, and the link-to-website portions were highly distracting to me. I stopped reading and started goofing off on the website. I think this would be more helpful as a physical book, where I can flip between sections easier and am less likely to find myself wandering away from the text and onto online forums and classes and things.

[drsyko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book provides a lot of great basic information for people who may be new to investing. Everything is explained in plain language and the author works hard to reduce people's fear of investing. He also emphasizes making decisions based on facts and market trends, rather than fear and emotion. Reading this book may help people to avoid the most common mistakes that people make when investing, and thus help them to maximize their potential for gain. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to start to invest, but feels lost about doing it. There was also an offer for an online course that people may want to also try.

[pencilstubs-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Investing Quickstart Guide" provides a lot of good advice for beginners, including why the earlier you start the better, the psychology of investing, the benefits of index funds, the risks of individual stocks, and various basic concepts and vocabulary. It was written in a clear and easy to understand way. This would make a great gift for high school and college students.Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[lipi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A "For Dummies" book without that particular appellation. Clear and no-nonsense primer on where you can stick your money.The language of finance is to the English language what faeces is to a meal at the French Laundry, but the author manages to make the journey less painful than the poorly prepared traveller has reason to expect. So good job, Ted! If you want to infiltrate parties filled with MBAs and VCs, this will teach you enough to blend in.

[lakenvelder_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have been investing for a number of year with a 401k plan, bonds, and stock purchases. I really do not have a lot of money but I try to put 20% of my income into the 401 and stocks. Even with my limited investment power, I found this book to contain great advice. One advice he gives is to hold on with downturns when you are investing for the long haul. This book has helped me understand some investments I did not know too much about. Still, there is aways risk and the book explains it quite well. The book is easy to follow with examples and I strongly suggest for anyone wanting to invest to begin to read this book which is why I rated it as a 5. I want to thank Clydebank Media for providing me a copy of this book via download along with other digital materials including modules, video contents and free access to all these great materials on their website in exchange of an honest and unbiased feedback for the book.

[cicero_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As an investor with decades of experience and knowledge, I am naturally skeptical of most introduction to investing books. So many of them hype risky strategies, pushing more speculation than sound investing. This is not one of those books. I found it to give a good, solid overview of the investing landscape, from the perspective of an individual investors. The author provides appropriate guidance regarding the risks of options and penny stocks.The perspective is certainly that of the active, self-managed portfolio, which matches my inclinations as well. But it is probably worth reading this along with Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” for the efficient-market, pro-indexing perspective, to get both sides of the story.(I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)

[buttsy1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program.I read this book using Books app on an iPad mini.This book is subtitled ‘The simplified beginner’s guide to successfully navigating the stock market, growing your wealth and creating a secure financial future’. I’m pleased I got the simplified book, because I found the amount of information a little overwhelming, and doubt I could cope with a more detailed and complex discussion.That’s partly a joke. Financial literacy (or the lack of it) is a real problem for many people, and to find advice such as this provided by Snow fills an important gap.His general advice can be summarised fairly simply: (1) get good advice (2) prepare to be in for the long haul (3) don’t expect to get wealthy over night. There is, of course, much more to it.Some of his advice that more specifically related to my own small level of investment refers to the timing of investments, and the temptation to sell at a loss in the hope of avoiding a bigger loss. The Market always, as Snow assures us, improves. Even after ‘dramatic’ falls, it picks up again. You just have to wait.I was able to skip over the information around taxation, as I am not American, and clearly this book is written with Americans in mind.I found it a useful read, and reinforces the advice my own Financial Adviser provides.

[kristinhwilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I learned a lot about investing from this book. Some of it was difficult to understand but I soon caught on . I would recommend this book to new investors and experienced investors who want a refresher.

[thehappylittlelady · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Investing QuickStart Guide", does help with some introduction to lingo and understanding how it works. It discusses investing 12,000 waiting a year and making 6,500 profit. Which are to me large sums of money and a that you can for sure profit, but that you already need a hunk of money to start out. So, I just feel it's out of my leauge. Should I ever come into a large or even moderate lump sum that isn't needed for well... life, Ill give it some consideration because the evidence here shows it does go up if you can hang in there when it drops and buy the right stock. I received this ebook for my opinion. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It makes the way it all works understandable, but I feel Its for someone with alot of spare money who is already very secure financially.

[danysh2016 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Handy guide full of useful information. I would note that the very first page of the book directs you to "download your free digital assets" before you start reading the book, with a hyper link to the Clydebank Media website- it really reeks of late night infomercial style blitz marketing- with courses from the academy, etc. It's a bit of a turn off upon first glance. I'm happy to have the useful information, but I would suggest laying off the flashy gimmicky looking site and web sales pitch.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an e-book that I read. The author provides a lot of information about stocks and investments. I found the book interesting and informative. The discussions are understandable and are illustrated by examples. I firmly recommend this book to anyone interested in investing.

[tanyaread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is and isn't a beginner's guide to investing. Chapters 1-3 do provide a simple, easy to understand introduction to investing. The examples and graphics add to the clarity of the text. Chapters 4 and 5 are not really for beginners. They discuss investing in individual securities and I do not think really provide good advice for a beginner. It recommends things like identify the next big thing (like need for clean water, computer virus protection, tattoo removal) and buying undervalued companies with strong balance sheets, or buy something that appeals to you. None of this is easy for a beginner. I would have expected more things like here are various types of mutual funds where a beginner can participate in the market and have diversification and start getting acquainted with things like "the market goes up, the market goes down, get used to it". I would have expected a rundown of various free websites that provide advice for investors (like paulmerriman.com - he was a financial advisor for years and puts resources on the web for investors now that he is retired and all is free). Or even something like "start with a few solid things like X, Y and Z" (Warren Buffet's buy big American companies). The book has "use stock screeners to ID the right stocks" but...what is right? It says "Many of these stocks will quietly outperform the market, generating fantastic returns for those few fortunate enough to take note of them." Ummm... so "Many"? According to some things I have seen on the market a very few stocks provide most of the returns for things like the S&P. Which means without diversification probably people will miss them. On stock screening I would have expected to see Manifest Investing and Better Investing listed as places one can join (I think both are under $100 for a year membership) and learn about how to screen stocks on the cheap if a person wants to do that. I think there is a bit of "I [author] am a financial planner and have a website and you can go there...." But the first part of the book is good and the chapters on investing psychology and financial freedom (7 and 9) are good.

[amy1825-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Informative book. Easy to follow with lots of good tips and info.