Savvy Investment 101
The Book Club
Savvy Investment 101
Financial literacy is the key to growing wealth. Inundated by information overload on the Internet, but don’t know where else to seek advice? Here are five choice reads to steer you on the path to achieving your financial goals with useful investment strategies and how to avoid pitfalls.
1. Money Smart: Own Your Financial Destiny
A compilation of financial articles in Singapore’s context by bestselling author Lorna Tan, Money Smart is packed with insights into a range of personal finance topics such as financial planning tips for millennials, stretching your dollar with a Supplementary Retirement Scheme account, retirement planning, tax planning, and more. Written in an easy-to-understand way, this book is a good guide for anyone who wants to understand how to manage your finances better.
2. Retire Smart: Financial Planning Made Easy
A beginner’s guide to retirement planning in Singapore, Retire Smart consists of a compilation of financial articles published from 2015 to 2017 in The Sunday Times by bestselling author Lorna Tan. Cutting through complex financial concepts, schemes, and jargon, this book aims to help the layperson make sense of what is important in planning for their financial future and growing their nest egg.
3. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Investors and Managers, 6th Edition
Through many updated editions dating to 1997, The Essays is the definitive account of Warren Buffett’s — the most successful investor-manager in history — approach to investing and management. It consists of a carefully curated and thematically organised compendium of his original annual letters, along with priceless commentaries by Lawrence A. Cunningham, the internationally renowned scholar and expert on Buffett and his company.
4. The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing
Benjamin Graham's philosophy of “value investing” — which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies — has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible since its original publication in 1949. While preserving the integrity of Graham’s original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, draws parallels between Graham’s examples and today’s financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham’s principles.
5. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
To be truly investment-savvy is to be able to see past the glitz and glamour of high-stakes investment. Take a deep dive into the inside story of the rise and collapse of Theranos, a multibillion-dollar biotech startup valued at more than $9 billion. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos had promised to revolutionise the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier, except the technology didn’t work, thus leading to its eventual exposure as the biggest corporate fraud since Enron.
Whether you’re a savvy investor or just starting out on your financial goals, you’re bound to find some fresh perspectives with these reads!
By Felicia Chua