best investment books to read in 2017

10 Must Read Investment Books to Make Money in 2017

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2017 is shaping up as an extremely important year in the stock market…can you afford not to read some of the best investment books?

The stock market has surged more than 230% since the 2009 low of the financial crisis and the Dow Index is about to breach a major milestone.

But stocks are also looking extremely expensive and more than a few facts are pointing to a tough 2017 for investors.

Now more than ever, investors need to look to some of the best investment books to learn how to not only make money in 2017 but to protect what they’ve earned over the nearly eight-year bull market.

That’s why I put together a list of the ten investment books every investor needs to read. These books on investing cover everything from beginner’s basics to trading and wealth management. The last two stock market crashes have erased more than 50% of investors’ portfolios, can you afford not to be ready for the next?

Best Investment Books for Beginners

Some of the best investment books you can read are the ones targeted to beginner investors. These aren’t going to get into the complicated trading strategies or trying to ‘beat the market’ but simply help you put together a stress-free strategy to invest your money and meet your financial goals. Even after more than ten years as an investment analyst, I still refer to some of these beginner books on investing for the basics that make the most money.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham with forward by Warren Buffett and commentary by Jason Zweig

The Intelligent Investor may be the most popular investment book ever written and one that I’ve read many times. It does a great job of detailing two different investing strategies, one for the investor that just wants to meet their goals in the easiest way possible and another strategy for investors that want to reach for a little higher return.

We’re nearly finished with our chapter-by-chapter review of the book, detailing each part of the book to help you make sense of value investing and how to create your investing strategy. Writing this post, the news is saying that Warren Buffett made nearly $13 billion this year on his investments, more than anyone else in America. Wouldn’t it be nice to learn how to invest from the investment book written by Buffett’s mentor?

Step-by-Step Dividend Investingbest dividend investing books 2017: A Beginner’s Guide to the Best Dividend Stocks and Income Investments by Joseph Hogue, CFA

This beginner’s investment book is part of my four-part series covering investing basics as well as how to invest in bonds, dividends and emerging markets. I love dividends and getting paid while you hold stocks is one of the most important things you can work into your investment strategy.

The dividend investing book is a quick, easy read on the power of dividend stocks and how to find the ones that will match your investing goals. Beyond traditional dividend-paying stocks, I cover other income investments like real estate investment trusts (REITs) and master limited partnerships (MLPs). These are two income tools that most investors miss but can really help diversify your investment risks and boost cash return.

Step-by-Step Bond Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to the Best Investments and Safety in the Bond Market by Joseph Hogue, CFA

best bond investing books 2017If there is one investment that is almost completely ignored or misunderstood, it’s bonds and fixed-income. That makes it your best shot at reaching your investing goals and avoiding the roller-coaster ride that leaves most investors where they started.

Step-by-Step Bond Investing is the third in my investment books series and probably the most important of the group. I start with the basics of bonds and why every investor needs to have some fixed-income in their portfolio. The book also provides two strategies, directly investing in bonds or investing in low-cost funds, depending on your goals and how much you have to invest.

2017 Top Investing Books for Stocks

One Up On Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market by Peter best investing books of 2017Lynch

This is one of the top investment books that all serious stock investors read at some point. Peter Lynch is a legend among professional investment managers, running the Fidelity Magellan Fund and beating the stock market for an unheard of 13 years through 1990.

Lynch’s book is a Main Street investor’s guide on picking stocks by investing in what you know. Lynch details the process he used to find runaway stocks and boost returns with deep analysis of a company and financials.

How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad by William J. O’Neil

O’Neil used nearly 130 years of stock market research to develop his proven seven-step CAN SLIM system for picking the best stocks. His system can be used on individual stocks, mutual funds and exchange traded funds. The book is a national best-seller and referenced by some of the best fund managers in the industry.

Crowdfunding has been a revolutionary new way to raise money for nearly a decade and has now started to change the world of investments. For more than 80 years, regular investors have been shut out of the world of startup investing. The wealthy have had sole access to invest in companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter before Main Street investors could invest in the stock market.

That all changed last year and one of the biggest investments in 2017 could be equity crowdfunding. It’s your opportunity to invest in companies before they go public. A study by Willamette University shows that angel investors average a 260% return over four years on startup investments…now it’s your turn.

Investing in the Next Big Thing: How to Invest in Startups Like an Angel Investor by Joseph Hogue, CFA

top investing books for stocksI’ve worked with venture capital and wealthy investors for nearly a decade, developing a process to analyze and find the best investments in startup companies. I put all that experience in this book, completely detailing everything you need to do to invest successfully in equity crowdfunding.

The book starts out helping you understand the opportunity in startup investing and why equity crowdfunding is important for more than the return it provides. I go through my entire process of looking for companies with the potential to be successful and provide an investor exit, including the biggest scams and shenanigans bad companies try to pull over on investors.

Best Books about Investing and Wealth

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee your Fair Share of Stock common sense investing books 2017Market Returns by John C Bogle

The founder of Vanguard Funds is a blast to see in TV interviews because he’s always tells it like it is…no matter who he offends.  The 80-year old investing guru doesn’t have to mince words and lays it all out in this investment book.

Bogle explains why investing becomes a loser’s game for most people and how being successful can be easier than you might imagine. This is one of my favorite investment books and the core on which I built this website, simplifying investing into the very basics you need to meet your goals.

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

This book was the first to change the way we thought about wealth and being rich in America. The authors use decades of interviews to uncover how the wealthy got that way and how they keep getting richer. The surprise is that it’s seldom inheritance or intelligence but the habits formed around saving, making money and investing.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson

best investment books to read in 2017When I’m not reading investment books or about personal finance for work, I love reading about financial history and this is one of my favorites. I’m a nerd for history anyway and love reading how the world of finance and wealth has shaped our world.

The author reaches back more millennia to show the essential backstory to understanding how money has shaped human progress. The stories around stock market bubbles and crashes is hugely valuable to understanding your own investing behavior and avoiding losing money in the next bubble.

Seven Investing Steps that Will Make You Wealthy by Jon Dulin

Jon updated his book recently and provides a straight-forward strategy for investing and building wealth. Wall Street and investment analysis has become an entertainment industry, making more money on advertising and fees rather than actually helping investors make money. Investment books like Jon’s help to break through the myths created to keep you paying fees and losing money.

These are some of my favorite investment books and a great way to better investing in 2017. Start with some of the basics to better understand your goals and what kind of investments you need to meet those goals. You can then read more specific investing books on stock trading, wealth creation or any other topic.

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