WSJ Review: The Humble Investor + How Not to Invest
Daniel Rasmussen (“The Humble Investor”) and I both receive some kind words from the Wall Street Journal yesterday. There’s a lot about both books, but here is the TL:DR: “Barry Ritholtz has written a very different book. “How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors That Destroy Wealth—and How to Avoid Them”… Read More The post WSJ Review: The Humble Investor + How Not to Invest appeared first on The Big Picture.
Daniel Rasmussen (“The Humble Investor”) and I both receive some kind words from the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
There’s a lot about both books, but here is the TL:DR:
“Barry Ritholtz has written a very different book. “How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors That Destroy Wealth—and How to Avoid Them” is a thoroughly entertaining collection of short chapters that skewer experts, forecasters, the media and financial pundits. It takes as its theme a quote from the Berkshire Hathaway billionaire Charlie Munger: “It’s remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid…”
At nearly 500 pages, his book might at first be daunting for some readers, but it’s made up of short, narrative vignettes that are entertaining and often seem to have nothing to do with finance. Mr. Ritholtz introduces stories from popular music and Hollywood to illustrate how “nobody knows anything.” His argument, in short, is that much of the advice we receive is bad, and that we shouldn’t listen to the financial media without asking what the pundit is selling…
His ultimate point is that we risk outsourcing our thinking. We worry about the most outrageous stories, like dying from a shark attack or plane crash, while paying little attention to the things that are much more likely to kill us, such as our blood pressure and cholesterol. He applies that thinking to personal finance, arguing that investors should be broadly diversified in low-cost index funds, harvest tax losses, and pay as little tax as possible rather than worrying about an extremely unlikely stock-market crash.”
Super exciting!
I am always glad when a writing hits its mark — I am glad this was revceived as intended…
Source:
‘The Humble Investor’ and ‘How Not to Invest’: Money Matters
Betting against others’ overconfidence is key to beating the market. So is knowing when to tune out the financial pundits.
By Scott Nations
WSJ, April 9, 2025
The post WSJ Review: The Humble Investor + How Not to Invest appeared first on The Big Picture.
