The Four Pillars of Investing, Second Edition: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio

by Bernstein

The classic guide to constructing a solid portfolio―without a financial advisor! First published two decades ago, The Four Pillars of Investing has been the go-to resource for an entire generation of investors. This updated edition of the investing classic provides the foundational knowledge you need to avoid the most common pitfalls and build a portfolio in today’s roller-coaster world of investing. Retired neurologist and master investor William J. Bernstein has seen it all throughout his career. Buying investments with borrowed money. Chasing past performance. Overestimating one’s own risk tolerance. Listening to cable news. These are just a few of the many mistakes he has witnessed smart, serious investors make, to the peril of their portfolios. Add to these behavioral errors such economic factors as deflation, sudden stock declines, soaring inflation, and the like―and investing can seem like something to be avoided at all costs. But with the right discipline and knowledge, you can build and manage an impressive portfolio. It all comes down to understanding four key After taking you on a deep dive into each of these topics, Bernstein walks you through the process of designing and maintaining a powerful portfolio. Times have changed. Economies have changed. And markets are ever-changing. But sound investing principles haven’t changed. Use The Four Pillars of Investing to stay a step ahead of your investing peers and build a portfolio to be proud of.

Genres: Finance

352 pages, Hardcover

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Kaleb Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Past performance is never an indicator of future returns but history shows it’s better to invest in the whole haystack rather than picking through needles. The author emphasizes the importance of low expense ETF’s and having at least 20% in fixed income to take advantage of market lows. A mix of money markets, t bills, and CDs. Compound interest is the most important vehicle and do everything you can to not interrupt it. The author prefers value over growth.

I found it interesting how the author related a young professionals future income to a bond. Emphasizing that they should take as much risk/ equity exposure as possible to balance the mix of future projected earnings.

Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy only when others are fearful!

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really felt like I did my due diligence researching this book before I went out and bought it. I read reviews online, scanned the table of contents, and read snippets here and there. This all gave me the impression that the book would give me a solid baseline understanding of the world of investing and would serve as a useful reference on my bookshelf for years to come. Instead, the book felt like a collection of random thoughts, anecdotes, and stories from the author, loosely organized into four so-called pillars. The author mentions several times throughout the book that investing should be “boring” and to run the other way whenever somebody tries to make it interesting and exciting, even as he tries to add pizzaz to his stories with place names like Randomovia or whatever. It felt more like the author was shooting the breeze with a buddy than teaching me about the world of investing. Unfortunately, he never bothered to define terms for his buddy or remind us what this or that acronym means. I definitely would not recommend this one to a friend.

[Hem · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

[Gonzalo Charro · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely read: interesting, in-depth and hilarious. You don’t need much else to start investing after you finish this well earned classic.