Rethinking Investing: A Very Short Guide to Very Long-Term Investing

by Charles D. Ellis

In just ten short, accessible, and inviting chapters, Rethinking A Very Short Guide on Very Long-Term Investing presents straightforward steps that ordinary people can take to better invest their money. This book dispels myths about the value of investment managers, highlights emotional tendencies that can cloud our financial judgment, explains why index funds are a savvy choice, and reveals secrets like why it's better to wait until age seventy to receive Social Security benefits—along with the calculations that make this decision crystal-clear.

Written by renowned investor and popular author Charley Ellis, this must-have resource shows you how to set yourself up for investment success in three easy steps, with information on creating an optimal nest-egg withdrawal strategy to ensure you never run out of money, even if you live until age 100; maximizing returns through tactics like reducing your tax bill and making full use of diversified investment vehicles; and using a safe, passive investment strategy and letting the modern stock market do all of the hard work for you.

Rethinking Investing is an essential listen for long-term investors who want to start getting more from their money, especially those in or approaching retirement seeking to secure happier outcomes later in life.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Personal Finance, Money

128 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2025

About the author

Charles “Charley” D. Ellis is an American investment consultant. In 1972, Ellis founded Greenwich Associates, an international strategy consulting firm focused on financial institutions. Ellis is known for his philosophy of passive investing through index funds, as detailed in his book Winning the Loser’s Game.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sage, time-honored investing advice from one of the industry's best. This is essentially a distillation of the wisdom and guidance already found in Charlie Ellis's previous publications, the best of which is Winning the Loser's Game: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing. In all honesty, this precis is a paradox: those who can readily understand the economic language used already know the content.

5 stars for the man and his messsage; 3 for the book itself.

[Dennis Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rehash of his previous books

Not worth the time if you’ve read his previous books. His book Winning the losers game” is the one to read.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three word review: Power of Compounding!

Longer review: If you are early in the adulting journey, this short book provides a clear and simple road map for building wealth over the long term. It would be an excellent gift for a college grad or to celebrate a first "real" job (along with some $$ for that first 401k).

But this is also an excellent primer for any one who needs to be reminded that it is not only nearly impossible, but also not at all necessary, to try and time or "play" the markets, to achieve financial success.

Spoiler alert for both audiences... the keys are:
- low cost investing
- consistency of saving
- match the match (if available)
- and time (be patient; see also the three word review).

Folks approaching retirement might also benefit from Chapter 9 (only 4 pages!) which provided me with a valuable and different way of thinking about the Tobin rule of 4% withdrawals.

A bonus was learning a bit of the history of investing and why it is no longer possible to beat the experts.

This book isn't for everyone, but for many, following its simple principles could be life changing over the long haul.

[Jason Cady · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the bulk of this slim book Ellis argues at length on why it is best to invest in index funds. His reasons seem sound. But I still don't really understand what they are. I'm sure this book is too basic for most people interested in the topic, but for the novice it was not too helpful.

As for his other ideas:
1. Invest early (sorry, but I can't time-travel)

2. Scrimp and save everything so you can invest (I'm pretty damn frugal already, but also the author doesn't seem to realize that there are things in life more important than money and investing)

3. Get a job with a good 401K (the author is 88 years old and totally out of touch with today's job market)

4. Disputing myths about bonds (no problem here, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about)

5. Don't collect social security until you're 72.5 (okay, I'll try, not sure if will be able to wait that long, also not too confident that social security will even exist by the time I'm eligible)

[Daniel G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide missing important pieces

The advice is classic Ellis. It’s flaw is failure to consider the potential issues created by the failure of the dollar which is unfortunately increasingly likely over the next 20 years. In addition, more analysis of the high probability the social security benefit will be reduced in 2023 by 22% to 25% if congress fails to act. Which unfortunately they have shown no inclination to do.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate Ellis's advice to use index funds for long-term investing, but I feel like this book, although short already, could be summed up as: save early, invest for the long term in index funds or index etfs, and don't weight your allocations too heavily in bonds. Which is good advice, but not groundbreaking. For beginners, this is good message. But chapter 3 gets a little technical for beginners, so the book seems a little muddled as to who its audience is.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Information to word ratio pretty high. (Short book.)

Most interesting to me was author's opinion that one's home equity and future social security earnings should be counted in one's net worth investment ratio of stocks/bonds as if they were bonds. He advocates for ignoring advice such as "invest the percentage of your age in bonds in your total portfolio."

[Brian Polejes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Total has typo, and the book has misinformation about Social Security

The title has a typo in it, and the book has misinformation about Social Security. The book says that you can maximize Social Security at age 70 1/2; actually, the maximum age is 70.

[Matt Bucklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise yet profoundly insightful guide on how ordinary individuals can achieve investment success. Reading this short book and applying the lessons to your life early on could make people a lot of money in the long run. I only wish I had this book sooner.

[Peter Hanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic book- invest in index funds over the long term. Some other interesting notes about the value of delaying social security, staying away from bonds, -and the fee structure of actively managed accounts and how they can bite into value over the long term

[Nouvel Diamant]

There are better books on investing and I missed in this too short guide chapters about

- Asset Allocation
- Stock Market Crashes
- whether to invest in stocks as long as you have debts / mortgages

[Sarah Abe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is just learning about how to invest and trying to dig through the myriad of ways to do it, learning about investing feels overwhelming. This book had really helpful advice and reasoning to hold onto and was a quick read of helpful concepts. I will be checking out his other books!

[JW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Go for index funds, invest early, and invest regularly. That's it.

[Christina Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dad convinced me to read this so of course I had to add it to my good reads

[Garry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Index investing lauded

Excellent, easy to understand book which presents the merits of using index funds and ETF’s in your portfolio. Read it.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an overview book, but is full of information. A good book for an early investor and a reminder for a seasoned investor as well.

[Katie Carstens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly fine as an intro if you know nothing. If you’re looking for something with a bit more meat this isn’t the first book I’d recommend.