Serious Money: Straight Talk About Investing for Retirement

by Richard A. Ferri

SERIOUS MONEY is a down to earth investment book that is a must read for anyone saving for retirement. Armed with extensive research and his own professional experience, Richard Ferri dismantles the illusion that stockbrokers, financial planners, and other Wall Street "experts" offer superior investment advice. Ferri finds that most of the investments sold in the mass market consist of high cost products that deliver below average returns. Ferri further explains how index funds and other low cost, low tax investments lead to greater wealth at retirement. Serious Money is a thoughtful and thorough guidebook that cuts through the clutter and provides genuinely useful advice. It will save you time, money, and headaches.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance

Hardcover

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rick Ferri is a leading Boglehead and Serious Money was his first publication and propelled him forward as a popular author in the Boglehead community. 20 years later, this book sounds so simple and so common sense that it is hard to comprehend (as a millennial) how this message could be so controversial and countercultural.

Since it is twenty years old, it does not work well as an investing blue print today. Most investors would be best served by index ETFs rather than mutual funds and buying bond ETFs rather than individual issues. But Ferri himself recognizes that and came out with new and updated books in the intervening years that address the creation of ETFs. The value of this book, especially to me as a millennial, is the vivid picture it paints of how bad the investing world was for the average American in the 1990s. Jack Bogle, Vanguard, and the Bogleheads have literally changed the shape of the industry in 20 years by lowering fees, reducing volatility, and giving time back to investors.

[Jordan Chicano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid Money Talk with principles that haven't changed much since its publication.

[Stephen Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

everything holds as long as the money supply is stable

[Jesse Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid advice, invest in index funds. Would have been better if it was updated and didn't have all the grammar mistakes.