Risk and Reward: How to Handle Market Volatility and Build Long-Term Wealth

by Ben Carlson

Let me tell you the secret to investing.

There is no secret.

When investing your hard-earned money, risk and reward are inescapably intertwined. And there are no shortcuts. Getting rich overnight is a pipedream.

Ben Carlson constructs this book to play Devil’s Advocate on the entire premise of long-term investing. He takes a wrecking ball to his own investment philosophy to truly examine the good, the bad and the ugly.

Carlson contextualises the risks of long-term investing by analysing key moments in our financial history like the Great Depression and its aftermath in the 1930s, to the Japanese financial bubble of the 1980s, to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the 2000s. From this, it becomes apparent that long-term investing is not without risks, but the rewards might just be worth it.

By the end of this book, you will have a better grasp of the biggest risks in investing and how to protect yourself against them so you can survive the short-term, and thrive in the long-term.

Genres: Finance, Personal Finance, Nonfiction, Business, Economics

220 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2026

About the author

Ben Carson is the Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. The firm creates detailed investment plans and manage portfolios for institutions and individuals to help them achieve their goals.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are already familiar with the Boglehead investing philosophy or have read the classic index-investing literature from a decade ago, there is absolutely nothing new here. Risk and Reward is essentially a rehash and summarization of concepts the Boglehead community has espoused for years. On the positive side, it serves as a very nice, clean refresher and a solid reminder of core principles, but it doesn't go beyond that.

[Spence Byer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best measure of a “good” book is how many people you will gift this book to. I will likely gift this book to anyone interested in learning the basics of saving/investing/saving for retirement.

[Adam Bahram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben delivered!

Having leanrt so much from Ben, Josh, Michael, and Barry through reading, listening, watching their content, I was skeptical of this book - thinking it would just be a mash-up of his blogs.

Nope! It was a very well written, well constructed, full of great ideas book that both a finance layperson and a finance professional like me would benefit immensely from.

I think my go-to recommendations for new investors are now going to be a pair recommendation: Risk & Reward, and Just Keep Buying.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Risk and Reward is a great introductory text for those seeking to invest for the long term. For those already convinced in index fund investing, you won't find anything new here.

[Bill Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book that lays out some foundational investing principles and explains them well. Nothing too groundbreaking and I didn't disagree with much in here. However I have some issues:

1. All these personal finance books feel the need to start each chapter with different cute little anecdote and then tie it back to finance. I get the appeal, but it feels formulaic and repetitive to me
2. In Chapter 8, the cute anecdote is the Apollo program. The author's point is that the Apollo spacecraft was extremely complex, and was bound to experience a failure such as the Apollo 13 incident. Similarly, the economy and markets are extremely complex and you should expect occasional failures and crises. Fine, but unfortunately the author and fact-checker were asleep at the wheel and I feel I must set the record straight.
- P79: "When President John F. Kennedy declared in 1961 that the United States would put a man on the moon, it was a pipe dream. The government had no rockets, launchpads, spacesuits, computers or knowledge about what it would take to land on the moon." False. The Mercury program was already underway and just a few weeks before JFK's speech, Al Shephard had already gone to space (on top of a rocket, from a launchpad, wearing a spacesuit, with the help of computers). Granted, they needed massive improvements in all those components to actually get to the moon, but it's not like they didn't have any.
- p80: "There were 14 manned Apollo missions in total" False. There were 12 manned Apollo missions (including Apollo 1).
- p80, discussing Apollo 13: "Halfway to the moon, an oxygen tank exploded" They were ~200k miles away from earth, ~80% of the way to the moon. I guess halfway could be just an approximation but it's pretty different. The Jack Swigert statue plaque at the Denver airport also gets this wrong; why can no one get it right!

Anyway it was nice to have some Apollo history in the book but would have been better to be more accurate.

[Cosmo DeStefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Carlson has written the rare investing book that is both intellectually honest and genuinely encouraging. A combination harder to pull off than it sounds.

A word on fit before you dive in: readers who already have a basic grasp of financial planning and investing mechanics will get the most out of this book. Carlson isn't teaching you what a mutual fund is; he's teaching you how to think once you've moved beyond 'should I invest?' to 'how do I not wreck this?' That distinction matters.

Risk & Reward doesn't pretend to hand you a formula for beating the market. Instead, it makes a compelling case for something more valuable: the mental framework to survive markets long enough to let compounding do its work. Carlson's deadpan wisdom cuts through the noise early. "Buy and hold is the worst form of investing, except for all the other investment strategies that have been tried from time to time," and he never really lets up.

What sets this book apart is its unflinching honesty about behavioral risk. Loss aversion, the urge to react, the seductive appeal of concentrated bets, Carlson names them all and explains why they are the real enemies of wealth. His observation that "you can't put a price on the ability to ignore what others around you are doing with their money" gets to the heart of the book.

A useful analogy occurred to me while reading: think of the slogan for the TV show, Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. Carlson makes a persuasive case that individual investors can't reasonably expect to outwit or outplay the market. But with discipline and a long horizon? You can absolutely outlast. The epilogue's 20 investing beliefs are a crisp, keep-it-forever summary.

If you're serious about building and protecting your wealth, this book belongs in your library.

[Brandyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travels well trod ground so there is nothing new here. This was a perfectly fine introductory or overview of the last 20 years of personal finance information that is very numbers focused (ie repeating countless ways of measuring various stock markets performance over x years) so I didn’t find it particularly novel. That said, I still (half) listened to it all as I think this stuff needs to be drilled into you so you have the right responses during the ups and downs of the market (diversify, buy and hold, don’t panic, keep fees low). As the late John Bogle would say, “don’t just do something, stand there!”

[Heidi Dumke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The closing chapters and epilogue offer sound advice. I get that all of the preceding chapters were leading up to that… but it’s definitely not a first financial book for someone. What I mean is… so much is devoted to all the possible scenarios of risk that I was like, “I get it. This is a longterm commitment. Diversification is key. Rewarding will happen, but risk (volatility) is part of the process.” That said, I did nerd out on everything he included about the stock market! Sooooo much information! It’s worth one’s time to really understand emotions and investing as well as how to seriously counteract impulse financial decisions.

[Steve H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a Big Ben Carlson fan, both written and spoken word ( via his podcasts). This book was as advertised— a very enjoyable and quick read that does a great job concisely covering the last 100+ years of the market to give a solid context and reinforcement to the wisdom of diversification and Bogle-esque investing. Ben makes sometime dense data easily digestible. Sometimes too high a level for my tastes, but I think that was intentional to make this more of an Everyman read. I will share this as readily as I recommend Morgan H.


Nicely done Ben!!

[Alex Tang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just like the calm steady demeanor and approach of Ben.

This is the same reason why I tune in weekly to Animal Spirits and Ask the Compound - just like working out and fitness, your financial mental resiliency is a muscle that needs to be honed in good times and bad.

There is no real new content, but rather distills his investing philosophy and demeanor in an enjoyable and easy to consume way.

[Jack Crain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I debated rating the book three or four stars and ultimately chose four. Ben Carlson provides a wealth of practical information, and I appreciate his concise writing style. I especially liked the chapter on Japan’s stock market experience. Still, personal finance is complex, so readers should be careful about following the book’s advice without further research. Even with that word of caution, I recommend this book.

[Allen Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Carlson is one of the great financial writers of our time. I would put him right alongside Morgan Housel. Balancing risk is not overlooked in this book. He masterfully connects historical context to practical modern insight. There is no formula but there is patience and consistency. I’d recommend this book to anyone who is serious about investing.

[Caitlin Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book! I read it all in 2 days during a rainy vacation and it was so interesting, I wish I had more to read. I wasn’t sure what to anticipate because I bought it right away before I heard many reviews but it was a great mix of charts and stories and history. Such a unique way to present the history of investing, the markets and how people react. Great book!

[John Hulede · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great supplement book to Morgan Housel’s Same as Ever. Great investing book and one of my all time favorites. I love how is simplifies investing and details the importance of diversification backed by research along with events that have happened and will continue to happen. I wish my younger self read this in my first year of starting to invest.

[Hunter Satterfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just okay from Carlson. It feels more like a book of blog posts than a cohesive group of ideas around a common topic. It is disjointed and repetitive for the majority of the book.

That being said, there is still good investment stuff in here for new investors. Nothing groundbreaking, but for those early to investing it is worthwhile.

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep investing. That is the idea.

It's a good psychology book. I think maybe a lot of people may feel this book is too plain, but this is what's needed during the investment journey. Staying patience, ignoring the noise. Thats a very hard thing to do.

[Alex Pellicci · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10. Simple and concise book covering long-term investing principles, volatility, bull and bear markets, inflation, fear & greed, etc. Learned about the Japanese bubble being by far the biggest in history. Easy read, nothing revelatory

[Darvish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned much of what was in this book years ago, but still a great read. It has lots of great examples and solid evidence for why steady, long term investing in the market is still the best way to reach your retirement financial goals.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new here. Just a lot about the past and how risk and reward go together over long and short periods of time. Good graphs. Good author but probably a book not needed to be written.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!!

[Val Ras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking, just good advice (and arguments to support that) for long term diversified investing

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last few chapters were the best part, so glad I kept at it.

[James III · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best financial books out there!

[Nathan Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read that confirms much of my own investing philosophy.

[Keith & Meggin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 13 of 2026: "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" You have to figure out the right speed for your investments.

[Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too lengthy, but full of interesting facts and stories, so entertaining. Audible audio book would have been better with a professional speaker instead the authors.

[Connor Ortman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Ben Carlson pods, didn’t love this book

[Roger Jack]

Great book on how to deal with the uncertainty of your portfolio.

[Mateo Caliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buen libro, conceptos inteligentes, nada nuevo pero buen punto de vista y muy bien expresados y bajados a tierra dichos conceptos