The Simple Path to Wealth
by J L Collins
Collins' book grew from letters to his daughter: avoid debt, spend less than you earn, invest the difference in a broad low-cost index fund and leave it alone. It is the simplest competent investing book available, and the chapters on why market crashes are survivable are reassuring and correct. US-centric.
Read it if…
you want one clear, calm investing philosophy and no jargon.
Skip it if…
you want to pick stocks or trade; the book argues against it, convincingly.
Three things you will actually use
- Spend less than you earn; invest the surplus.
- Buy a total-market index fund and keep buying.
- Expect crashes; do not sell into them.
Do this first
Check what your retirement account is invested in and what it costs you in fees.
Our verdict
Plain, reassuring and right; the investing book to read first and possibly last.
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