Recommended Reading List
America the Broke: How the Reckless Spending of The White House and Congress are Bankrupting Our Country and Destroying Our Children’s Future
Gerald J. Swanson
“One day soon, our government will suddenly run out of cash, unable to meet its payments, leaving the United States as bankrupt as any banana republic. We are far more vulnerable than most Americans realize… With a debt of $7.3 trillion, if interest rates were to hit the levels we saw 20 years ago, it would take every nickel collected in income taxes just to pay the interest on our existing debt. There would be no money left for defense, or homeland security, or education, or Social Security.
This scenario is hardly fiction. That the United States of America can literally go broke is no longer a fantasy but likelihood—unless we stop the train now speeding us to Armageddon. If we do not get our financial house in order, and soon, our great nation will collapse under the weight of its financial obligations.
I believe we can prevent the catastrophe. But time is short. In the final reckoning, it’s up to us to do what’s needed to save America’s future.”
Understanding Wall Street
Jeffrey B. Little, Lucien Rhodes
Book Description:
Of all the books on Wall Street and the stock market that have appeared over the years, none has had the impact or staying power of this book. Since it was first published in 1978, Understanding Wall Street has been recognized as the leading primer on the stock market. Now this unsurpassed guide is available in a updated edition for the 1990s. Little and Rhodes examine the effects of the crash of 1987 and provide fresh material, including several all-new chapters, on junk bonds and growth stocks, program trading, gold and silver, investor resources and services, and international investment. Readers also learn how to interpret business news and how to protect themselves in a bear market.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. Kiyosaki, With Sharon L. Lechter
Personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective through exposure to a pair of disparate influences: his own highly educated but fiscally unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his “poor dad” (whose weekly paychecks, while respectable, were never quite sufficient to meet family needs) pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his “rich dad” (that “the poor and the middle class work for money,” but “the rich have money work for them”). Taking that message to heart, Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with consultant and CPA Sharon L. Lechter, lays out his the philosophy behind his relationship with money. Although Kiyosaki can take a frustratingly long time to make his points, his book nonetheless compellingly advocates for the type of “financial literacy” that’s never taught in schools. Based on the principle that income-generating assets always provide healthier bottom-line results than even the best of traditional jobs, it explains how those assets might be acquired so that the jobs can eventually be shed.
-Howard Rothman
Stocks for the Long Run
Jeremy J. Siegel, Donald G. Coxe, Foreword by Peter Bernstein
Book Description:
If anyone told you that investing in the stock market was the safest investment you could make, you might raise an eyebrow. However, if Jeremy Siegel tells you this, prepare to be convinced. Siegel’s book, Stocks for the Long Run, is a comprehensive and highly readable history of the stock market that dramatically makes the case for long-term investing in stocks.
In summing up his approach to investing, Siegel writes, “Poor investment strategy, whether it is for lack of diversification, pursuing hot stocks, or attempting to time the market, often stems from the investor’s belief that it is necessary to beat the market to do well in the market. Nothing is further from the truth. The principle of this book is that through time the after-inflation returns on a well-diversified portfolio of common stocks have not only exceeded that of fixed income assets but have actually done so with less risk. Which stocks you own is secondary to whether you own stocks, especially if you maintain a balanced portfolio.”
Stocks for the Long Run considers subjects as diverse as the history of the various market indices and what makes for a business cycle to contrarian indicators and the utility of 200-day moving averages. If you’ve just come into investing in the last few years and feel the need for a solid and comprehensive text about the market, Stocks for the Long Run is probably the best primer available. It also works as an excellent reference for seasoned investors and anyone else interested in how the market works.
-Harry C. Edwards
Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko, William D. Danke
Book Description:
How can you join the ranks of America’s wealthy (defined as people whose net worth is over one million dollars)? It’s easy, say doctors Stanley and Danko, who have spent the last 20 years interviewing members of this elite club: you just have to follow seven simple rules. The first rule is, always live well below your means. The last rule is, choose your occupation wisely. You’ll have to buy the book to find out the other five. It’s only fair. The authors’ conclusions are commonsensical. But, as they point out, their prescription often flies in the face of what we think wealthy people should do. There are no pop stars or athletes in this book, but plenty of wall-board manufacturers–particularly ones who take cheap, infrequent vacations! Stanley and Danko mercilessly show how wealth takes sacrifice, discipline, and hard work, qualities that are positively discouraged by our high-consumption society. “You aren’t what you drive,” admonish the authors. Somewhere, Benjamin Franklin is smiling.
The Citizen Investor: The Power of Ownership
Phil Dow, Paul B. Brown
Book Description:
There are no guarantees when it comes to investing. And if you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” And yet, year in and year out, the same companies out perform the pack. They aren’t flashy. And they certainly will not generate the highest returns over one week, one month or one year. Yet, every time you look at the best performing stocks over a three, five, or ten-year (or even longer) period, there they are. Doesn’t it make sense to consider making these strong performers a core part of your portfolio? Phil Dow, director of equity strategy for RBC Correspondent Services, one of the nation’s leading brokerage firms, thinks so. Here in straight forward, no-nonsense language, Dow shows you how to identify the market’s “Bulldog Stocks” and what you should do with them once you find them. (Hint: You OWN them for the long term.) If it is time to get back into the market, or to readjust your portfolio, THE CITIZEN INVESTOR is a great place to start.Gerald J. Swanson, Ph.D our guest on the Money Matters Radio Show 11-7-04
Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It
Harry E., Jr. Figgie, Gerald J. Swanson, Ph.D
Book Description:
Unlike David P. Calleo’s more scholarly and philosophical approach to the national debt in his recent The Bankrupting of America (LJ 4/1/92), this book is designed to frighten its readers into action. The author projects that by 1995 interest payments on the national debt will begin to overwhelm our ability to pay that interest. The two possible scenarios then would be financial panic or hyperinflation. Figgie’s call to action stresses public pressure on politicians to reduce government deficits and the national debt. Given the book’s short-term political emphasis, libraries should carefully evaluate the lasting significance of its long-run role in their collection.
