The book is good in that it tells about the strategy of investing in a broad index, long-term. I would say that the author is quite extreme in this belief… hardcore. But there’s nothing wrong with that. This is indeed a splendid approach, especially for people who don’t want or have time to delve deeply.
- The book discusses the topic of borrowing money and how it hinders success in the future.
- It reminds us that in the long run, the stock market goes up.
- Complex things are simplified, and much of the unnecessary noise that often accompanies investing is eliminated.
Since I promised to give honest reviews, I’ll be frank and direct in my opinion. I have two small remarks about the book.
I don’t particularly like the tone the author uses. It’s a bit arrogant for me, but apparently, it’s a style that readers like, and the book is very popular. Perhaps it’s a deliberate approach to appeal to people who simply want someone to tell them what to do with a slightly instructional tone, by someone who knows how things works. This is a matter of taste and personal opinion, which I don’t impose on anyone.
What’s more important to me, however, is that I would like the author to support his claims with more evidence, as is done in many other investment books I’ve read. Authors usually cite other authors, refer to scientific studies, sociological surveys, experiments, etc. This is definitely lacking in this book. Simply repeating the thesis in countless different ways is not enough. While I personally know he is right because I’m familiar with this thesis from places where it’s explained how and why it’s so, if we take for example Jason Zweig’s book “Your Money and Your Brain,” the last 50 pages are notes, indicating where each thesis, phrase, or statement comes from. I cannot but admire immensely an author like Zweig, who has done a colossal job of reading, or at least familiarizing himself with certain works, to build his theses and write his book. And consequently, Zweig himself is cited in many other places later on. Collins doesn’t do that. Specifically for me, this is important; otherwise, I simply feel the book is just populism and somewhat an attempt to impose an opinion rather than giving readers the opportunity to reach the same (or different) conclusions themselves.
Despite these two remarks, however, the book is worthwhile and should not be missed. It may turn out to be the only necessary one, as I said above, for people who want someone to tell them how to invest and don’t have to delve into details. It will explain to them how with long-term investing in a broad index, they can succeed just as well as others who will read many more books. Possibly even better than them.