If your goal is to become financially free asap & have enough income for a comfortable retirement, then there are only 2 books you really need to read.

1. Millionaire Teacher - Andrew Hallam is an easy to read & understand guide to achieving your financial goals. His 9 rules explain what to invest in, how to deal with banks & financial advisors, how to balance your portfolio & a lot more, while spending only a few hours per year reviewing & correcting.

2. Barefoot Investor - Scott Pape, explains how to structure your finances & discipline yourself to control your spending with ease, how to deal with debt, save for holidays, invest in your future by saving for a home, & investing in you superannuation. It written based on living in Australia but the principles can be applied to living anywhere.

These 2 books complement each other very well, & I highly recommend you read both.

A well-written and informative book for most people. I bought it for my children and eventually grandchildren to read. If more people would heed the advice of always living on less than you make, and only investing in index funds, they would be much better off. People let brokers convince them that investing is way too complicated for the average person, and they "need" their expensive help with this investing stuff.

That said, I will take exception with his suggestion to put what I consider lots of your money into bond funds. Since interest rates peaked in 1981 when money market funds were paying about 14%, owning bond funds has been a good thing. But with interest rates near zero, we may be looking at a 20 or 30-year bear market for bonds. The great Peter Lynch the author quotes to support his suggestion to put money into index funds also said put all your money into stocks and none into bonds. Warren Buffett is also quoted, but the fact that he recommends individual investors put all their money into stock index funds with none in bond funds is also ignored. Lynch did say to sell all stocks and go 100% into 30-year US Bonds if the yield on them hits 9%, but we are a long way from that.

Ignoring half of what these two great investors said is why I give 4 stars instead of 5. I can't tell you that you are wrong to put half of your money into bond funds, but two really great investors do.

It's not a get-rich-quick book (can't stand 'em). It doesn't sell anything (can't stand ads masquerading as books). A friend passionately recommended it. He was right. It has changed my life. Wish I had this knowledge 20 years ago. Thankful to have it now. And most importantly, thankful to have the opportunity to teach the powerful principles contained within to our children.

Investing shouldn't be difficult. It shouldn't be mystical. And this book proves it. I've gone 40+ years not having much of a clue about investing. That fact alone has cost me literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for my 70+ year old self. But this book will help my 70-year-old me breathe a little easier financially, and for that I'm grateful.

It's not the Bible. But it is now only the second book in my lifetime that I recommend everyone should read (and that's saying a lot, seeing as I have one of my own out there).

This is an outstanding introduction to a very important subject. Anyone who is looking to gain knowledge of investment would do well to read this book.

First: I encourage you to ignore negative reviews that paint the book at “repetitive.” The author intended this book to be an introduction to the subject, it is not designed for those that have read Bernstein or Malkiel.

Secondly; The 1 star ratings argue this is “an informercial for Vanguard.” This assertion is absurd. Successful investment comes from owning low cost funds- currently vanguard offers the CHEAPEST funds. Hallam would suggest any company that has the lowest cost. If tomorrow it were Fidelity, he would release and updated version talking about their funds.

Once you have read Hallam, look for Bogle, Finley, Armstrong, Ellis, Bernstein, and Malkiel.

AH's system works. I'm retired and in my early 40's. Live below your means and invest early: that's awesome advice!

Just do exactly what this book says (like buy Vanguard funds and avoid trend stocks). I lost $10K chasing newsworthy Rx stocks and Tech companies. It's all newspaper rhetoric. I analyzed swing-trading charts like I was plotting a trip to the moon: you can't predict or plan anything!

The only thing that helped me make some serious cash with stocks is the CAN SLIM Method (O'Neil) and this book. For teachers and any other professional making less than $60K a year, this is THE way. Time will pass and you'll lock in "slowly but surely" gains. It's the marathon way of investing, not a get-rich-quick sprint.

After you execute this book's simple financial plan, just focus on how to learn they kids goodlier and give them knowledges. Nothing left to say.

I heard about this book from an appearance of Hallam on the Afford Anything podcast. I'm far from a professional investor, and work in around the same salary bracket as the kind of life he described as a teacher. I'm interested in personal finance, but many finance books I've perused seem bent on selling you some path of real estate investing, playing the stocks or using complex methodologies to gamble your way into "maximized returns", none of which I'm really interested in. Hallam's book laid out very easily another path that I could see in my own life without having to become some sort of money guru. I'd definitely recommend this book if you want to set up for a smart future in the long term and you're not looking to be swayed by immediate dollar signs or fast talking dealmaking.

This is by far the best book on investing that I've ever read. And I've read several dozen of them, plus another few dozen trading books. It's very clear, very concise, and makes perfect sense. I re-read it every year. Hallam gives us a complete investment strategy, which works across all phases of the market. You'll need to do a little bit of research at the beginning, but you won't need to make any complicated decisions. It should take a few hours each year to implement.

The summary is:

* Spend only what you need to, in order to have a reasonable life style. Save as much as possible to invest for the future. Eliminate debt before you make new investments.

* Start investing as early as possible, to enjoy the benefit of compound interest.

* Invest in low-cost index funds.

* Split your investments into two segments: bond indexes and stock indexes. Weight the bonds according to your age, so if your are 38 years old, hold 35-40% of your entire portfolio in bonds.

* Over time the bond component will grow/fall at a different rate than the stock component. So when you invest new money, buy more of the under-performing component. For example, if stocks have done really well so your portfolio is now weighted 30% bonds and 70% stocks, buy bonds with the new money. Then every year, rebalance the portfolio, selling enough of the higher performing component to buy more of the worse performing component. Note that most people would do the opposite, and buy more of high performing component.

This strategy forces you to sell high but buy low. That's exactly what you'd do when buying and selling any other product.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If I could, I'd give it ten stars. Buy it, read it, digest it, follow its advice. Ignore almost everything else.

No, I'm not related to the author, I'm totally independent of him.

This book will change your life in such a positive way. It does not give you a get rich scheme or some new cosmic method of making money, it is simple but immensely powerful advice.

I have bought 2 copies of this as gifts for others and cannot recommend it enough, it is the single greatest investment I have ever made.

Very good book. Some good ideas on investing that your financial advisor wont tell you or doesn't really know themselves or want you to know. Bottom line an index tracker is better than other options that you pay an adviser for. Let's face it most are salesmen and women. Do it yourself and save a fortune.

By far the best investment book I have ever read. It educates you on investment costs, stocks and bonds.
I have read the 'Intelligent Investor' and a few other highly recognised investment books but for me this book gives me confidence that I can now trust my investment decisions.

Simply the best and most informative for the average investor. It is highly-recommended and the fact that it is so readable and full of common sense makes it so relevant for people of all ages.

However, I think every parent should purchase this book for their child. It is one of the best presents you could ever give them.

Really enjoyed this book, gave me a kick to sort out my finances. Nice and clear, great examples, index funds are the way to go...I hope!

I never thought a book about finance could actually interest me but I read the entire thing! Funny, engaging, completely practical advice, I highly recommend!

Very good insight. But could be a lot more concise. Very repetitive

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants straight forward, understandable advice on making investments over the long term. If you are after a get rich quick book then look elsewhere, but if you want to get rich slowly then this is the place to start.

Gave up half way through. This is just well known common sense, no special financial insight.

A fantastic and very clear and concise introduction to investing!! For someone who has seen many people have a go at investing only for it to crash and burn in their faces, I was very skeptical about investing in particular in the stock market. However this book has demystified so many concerns. It is an easy read with many practical tips and examples!

Full of sound advice, and I learned something! A good book to support teaching financial awareness to young people.

I had no prior knowledge into investing in stocks. This book Provided me with a strong foundation and a starting point for further research

Compellingly written, well referenced, and extremely persuasive.

However, it almost sounds too good to be true - too simplistic. Perhaps it is, and that, I believe, is the truth embedded within the pages.

I will be sure to check in again once I've put into practice some of the amazing advice.

Till then, good luck to all those budding investors!