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Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest
In Invested, Charles Schwab, founder of The Charles Schwab Corporation, recounts the obstacles he encountered starting his fledgling company in the 1970s, its astonishing growth, and the ups and downs it weathered as he made stock investing, once the expensive and clubby reserve of the few, accessible to ordinary Americans.
A deeply personal memoir, Schwab describes his passion to have Main Street participate in the growing economy, as investors and owners, not only earners. Schwab opens up about his dyslexia, how he worked around and ultimately embraced it, and the challenges he faced when, a year into his grand experiment in discounted stock trading, living in a small apartment in Sausalito with his wife Helen and new baby, he carried a six-figure debt and pocketsful of personal loans. As it turned out, customers flocked to Schwab, his small team scrambling with scarce resources and no roadmap to manage the company's growth. He recounts Schwab's game-changing sale to Bank of America - and how, in the end, the merger almost doomed his organization. We learn about the clever and timely leveraged buyout he crafted to regain independence; the crushing stock market collapse of 1987 just weeks after the company had gone public; the dot-com meltdown of 2000 and its reverberating aftermath of economic stagnation, layoffs and the company's eventual reinvention; and how the company's focus on managing risk protected it and its clients during the financial crisis in 2008, propelling its growth.
A remarkable story of a company succeeding by challenging norms and conventions through decades of change, Invested also offers unique insights and lifelong principles Schwab for readers - the values that he has lived and worked by and have made him one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. Today, his eponymous company is one of the leading financial services firms in the world, with over 3 trillion dollars in client assets.
A deeply personal memoir, Schwab describes his passion to have Main Street participate in the growing economy, as investors and owners, not only earners. Schwab opens up about his dyslexia, how he worked around and ultimately embraced it, and the challenges he faced when, a year into his grand experiment in discounted stock trading, living in a small apartment in Sausalito with his wife Helen and new baby, he carried a six-figure debt and pocketsful of personal loans. As it turned out, customers flocked to Schwab, his small team scrambling with scarce resources and no roadmap to manage the company's growth. He recounts Schwab's game-changing sale to Bank of America - and how, in the end, the merger almost doomed his organization. We learn about the clever and timely leveraged buyout he crafted to regain independence; the crushing stock market collapse of 1987 just weeks after the company had gone public; the dot-com meltdown of 2000 and its reverberating aftermath of economic stagnation, layoffs and the company's eventual reinvention; and how the company's focus on managing risk protected it and its clients during the financial crisis in 2008, propelling its growth.
A remarkable story of a company succeeding by challenging norms and conventions through decades of change, Invested also offers unique insights and lifelong principles Schwab for readers - the values that he has lived and worked by and have made him one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. Today, his eponymous company is one of the leading financial services firms in the world, with over 3 trillion dollars in client assets.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published October 8, 2019
186 people are currently reading
1691 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
October 9, 2019
Net worth of 8.2B should result in a better memoir, ideally one less self serving and psychologically deeper. The winners write their history, and he is certainly a winner, which opened my ears, which were then left full of self-flattery.
Philanthropy is great? (P326). Did he give more to dyslexia, after he and his son were diagnosed, than the $100m+ he has dropped to the RNC and Trump re-election campaign and legal defense funds? He claims to be for taxing or regulating high frequency trading, but those are just words.
Health and personal passion? Trite. “there is no place that unleashes personal freedom better than here in the US. The foundation of that is our constitution. My goal by engaging in politics support that source of personal freedom…… Totalitarianism and socialism are simply soul crushing.” “ we will iron out how many differences and find common cause.” Has he looked at Trump, or it is this easy for a billionaire to be brainwashed?
Philanthropy is great? (P326). Did he give more to dyslexia, after he and his son were diagnosed, than the $100m+ he has dropped to the RNC and Trump re-election campaign and legal defense funds? He claims to be for taxing or regulating high frequency trading, but those are just words.
Health and personal passion? Trite. “there is no place that unleashes personal freedom better than here in the US. The foundation of that is our constitution. My goal by engaging in politics support that source of personal freedom…… Totalitarianism and socialism are simply soul crushing.” “ we will iron out how many differences and find common cause.” Has he looked at Trump, or it is this easy for a billionaire to be brainwashed?
August 19, 2019
There’s two ways to look at this book. The first way is how I initially approached it, and how most will: as a book. As a story for story’s sake, this is not the best read. It’s a memoir of a company, rather than of a man, to start. The prose itself is rather repetitive, almost word for word in some parts, more than a bit dry, and reads like a somewhat self-indulgent country club story among the good old boys. Fine for casual or bedtime reading but not great if you’re looking for engaging storytelling.
The other way to look at this book occurred to me near the end. As a memoir of the Charles Schwab company, it’s existence furthers the fundamental values of the company. Schwab centers the book on how the company has stood out from the pack by centering the customer and aiming for honesty, transparency, and service-based business. The creation of this book is a logical step in line with this value system. It stands as potential testament to the company’s (or at least Schwab’s) genuine commitment to the ideas of transparency and service-orientation by providing self-critical insight into the twists and turns of developing the company. This includes less than flattering moments. From this perspective, it is a valuable tool through which the company can express its values in a different format, and for an interested or prospective consumer to dig into the weeds and understand the good, bad, and ugly of their potential business partner. Taking this view, the book was very successful and certainly adds value.
The other way to look at this book occurred to me near the end. As a memoir of the Charles Schwab company, it’s existence furthers the fundamental values of the company. Schwab centers the book on how the company has stood out from the pack by centering the customer and aiming for honesty, transparency, and service-based business. The creation of this book is a logical step in line with this value system. It stands as potential testament to the company’s (or at least Schwab’s) genuine commitment to the ideas of transparency and service-orientation by providing self-critical insight into the twists and turns of developing the company. This includes less than flattering moments. From this perspective, it is a valuable tool through which the company can express its values in a different format, and for an interested or prospective consumer to dig into the weeds and understand the good, bad, and ugly of their potential business partner. Taking this view, the book was very successful and certainly adds value.
January 18, 2020
A Life In Full
Invested, the memoir of the entrepreneur Charles Schwab, is a classic saga of American capitalism. It is also an inspiring read, with life lessons that go far beyond the world of business.
For those not familiar with his work, Mr. Schwab’s company revolutionized the way Americans were able to invest. The beneficial effects of what he accomplished ripple through the economy to this day.
The book is written in a conversational manner, as if dictated (a reasonable assumption given the author’s dyslexia), and in clear, concise prose that makes engaging reading. It avoids the plodding detail of the overly meticulous biographer. Instead, the effect is more of a freewheeling discussion, perhaps an evening having a drink with a man who has led a remarkable life and is now ready to pour out his heart.
Born in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Mr. Schwab was raised in a family that was respectably middle-class, but by no means wealthy. Throughout his childhood, money was often tight, and frugality was a necessity as well as a virtue. One day his father explained to him the stock tables in the local newspaper, and Mr. Schwab was struck by the idea of building wealth through investing in the stock market.
That proved a pivotal moment in his young life. As he grew up, Mr. Schwab became fascinated with the power of wealth to provide freedom and peace of mind to the individual. How did some people manage to achieve wealth, while others struggled to just get by?
Through college and business school in the 1960s, he was drawn to the stock market. Why did investing in the market seem like some sort of exclusive Wall Street club? Why could one only invest through high-priced brokers, who catered to people who already had money?
Above all, why couldn’t investing in the market be available to the average person, to Main Street as well as Wall Street?
In those pre-internet, pre-cable television days of the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Schwab was determined to break through the opacity of the market. He researched companies and devoured stock charts. He started a stock market newsletter, with a small but growing following, and later added brokerage services.
And, in 1973, he founded Charles Schwab and Company. Its mission was both simple and grand: to open the world of stock investing to the great American middle class, by offering stock trading at a fraction of the prices charged by the big Wall Street firms.
The beginning was less than auspicious. At the time Mr. Schwab was already in his mid-thirties. He was not only broke, but deep in debt, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Sausalito with a wife and new baby. Moreover, his contrarian position of offering discounted brokerage fees made him a disruptor, a pariah, to the Wall Street establishment.
Fate intervened in his favor, however, in 1975, when the Securities and Exchange Commission deregulated the securities industry, freeing brokerage companies to charge any fees they wanted. His time had come. Charles Schwab and Company was off and running.
For those who have lived through the roller-coaster of the market during those ensuing decades, it is exhilarating to relive them again as the chapters chronicle the spectacular growth of Schwab and Company. Mr. Schwab pioneered many innovations we take for granted today, including 24/7 access to services and the one-stop trading marketplace. When the 1990s brought the internet, Schwab and Company jumped on the bucking bronco and became the first firm to sell stocks and mutual funds online.
And, of course, we ride through the dizzying downswings of the market’s roller coaster. The book powers through the crash of 1987, the dot-com crash of 1999-2000, the post 9/11 doldrums, and the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Each time, Schwab and Company emerges humbled but wiser, and eventually stronger.
There is a cautionary tale that resonates in today’s world. In 1981 Mr. Schwab received an offer to sell his company to the Bank of America. He would stay on as CEO, and in exchange would become, at age 44, a wealthy man, as he would be handsomely paid in shares of Bank of America stock.
He accepted the offer and sold his company. To his chagrin, however, he discovered that he had also sold his company’s soul. All of his life Mr. Schwab had been an entrepreneur, able to make his own decisions and change his company’s course, on the spot. Now, with the company a wholly owned subsidiary of a big bank, every decision had to be approved by layers of faceless bureaucrats. Worse, the value of his Bank of America stock crashed, as large loans to foreign countries began to go bad.
Fortunately, Mr. Schwab was able to purchase his company back from Bank of America, and regain his independence. He paid a high price for his exit, however, and vowed to never again make such a mistake.
It might seem a stretch to compare an individual to a nation—but is this not the story of Brexit? England initially welcomed the wealth and apparent security of the European Union, only to find it was losing its independence as a sovereign nation. Now England is paying a high price to regain its freedom. There is a lesson here for enterprises large and small, to avoid entanglements that erode liberty.
From a tiny startup some forty years ago, Charles Schwab and Company has grown to become America’s largest publicly traded investment services firm, with over ten million client accounts and over three trillion—yup, trillion—dollars in assets. As Amazon has done for the retail consumer, Schwab and Company has been the source of countless innovations that have increased the wealth and knowledge of the individual investor.
Now age 82, Mr. Schwab ends his book with a deeply personal reflection on the values that have guided him throughout his life. A man of faith and family, he is also devoted to the principles of personal and economic freedom found in the U.S. Constitution. And thus, he correctly sees the world of business as “the human spirit of curiosity and creativity brought to life, and why I am ever optimistic about the future.”
A life in full, indeed.
Invested, the memoir of the entrepreneur Charles Schwab, is a classic saga of American capitalism. It is also an inspiring read, with life lessons that go far beyond the world of business.
For those not familiar with his work, Mr. Schwab’s company revolutionized the way Americans were able to invest. The beneficial effects of what he accomplished ripple through the economy to this day.
The book is written in a conversational manner, as if dictated (a reasonable assumption given the author’s dyslexia), and in clear, concise prose that makes engaging reading. It avoids the plodding detail of the overly meticulous biographer. Instead, the effect is more of a freewheeling discussion, perhaps an evening having a drink with a man who has led a remarkable life and is now ready to pour out his heart.
Born in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Mr. Schwab was raised in a family that was respectably middle-class, but by no means wealthy. Throughout his childhood, money was often tight, and frugality was a necessity as well as a virtue. One day his father explained to him the stock tables in the local newspaper, and Mr. Schwab was struck by the idea of building wealth through investing in the stock market.
That proved a pivotal moment in his young life. As he grew up, Mr. Schwab became fascinated with the power of wealth to provide freedom and peace of mind to the individual. How did some people manage to achieve wealth, while others struggled to just get by?
Through college and business school in the 1960s, he was drawn to the stock market. Why did investing in the market seem like some sort of exclusive Wall Street club? Why could one only invest through high-priced brokers, who catered to people who already had money?
Above all, why couldn’t investing in the market be available to the average person, to Main Street as well as Wall Street?
In those pre-internet, pre-cable television days of the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Schwab was determined to break through the opacity of the market. He researched companies and devoured stock charts. He started a stock market newsletter, with a small but growing following, and later added brokerage services.
And, in 1973, he founded Charles Schwab and Company. Its mission was both simple and grand: to open the world of stock investing to the great American middle class, by offering stock trading at a fraction of the prices charged by the big Wall Street firms.
The beginning was less than auspicious. At the time Mr. Schwab was already in his mid-thirties. He was not only broke, but deep in debt, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Sausalito with a wife and new baby. Moreover, his contrarian position of offering discounted brokerage fees made him a disruptor, a pariah, to the Wall Street establishment.
Fate intervened in his favor, however, in 1975, when the Securities and Exchange Commission deregulated the securities industry, freeing brokerage companies to charge any fees they wanted. His time had come. Charles Schwab and Company was off and running.
For those who have lived through the roller-coaster of the market during those ensuing decades, it is exhilarating to relive them again as the chapters chronicle the spectacular growth of Schwab and Company. Mr. Schwab pioneered many innovations we take for granted today, including 24/7 access to services and the one-stop trading marketplace. When the 1990s brought the internet, Schwab and Company jumped on the bucking bronco and became the first firm to sell stocks and mutual funds online.
And, of course, we ride through the dizzying downswings of the market’s roller coaster. The book powers through the crash of 1987, the dot-com crash of 1999-2000, the post 9/11 doldrums, and the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Each time, Schwab and Company emerges humbled but wiser, and eventually stronger.
There is a cautionary tale that resonates in today’s world. In 1981 Mr. Schwab received an offer to sell his company to the Bank of America. He would stay on as CEO, and in exchange would become, at age 44, a wealthy man, as he would be handsomely paid in shares of Bank of America stock.
He accepted the offer and sold his company. To his chagrin, however, he discovered that he had also sold his company’s soul. All of his life Mr. Schwab had been an entrepreneur, able to make his own decisions and change his company’s course, on the spot. Now, with the company a wholly owned subsidiary of a big bank, every decision had to be approved by layers of faceless bureaucrats. Worse, the value of his Bank of America stock crashed, as large loans to foreign countries began to go bad.
Fortunately, Mr. Schwab was able to purchase his company back from Bank of America, and regain his independence. He paid a high price for his exit, however, and vowed to never again make such a mistake.
It might seem a stretch to compare an individual to a nation—but is this not the story of Brexit? England initially welcomed the wealth and apparent security of the European Union, only to find it was losing its independence as a sovereign nation. Now England is paying a high price to regain its freedom. There is a lesson here for enterprises large and small, to avoid entanglements that erode liberty.
From a tiny startup some forty years ago, Charles Schwab and Company has grown to become America’s largest publicly traded investment services firm, with over ten million client accounts and over three trillion—yup, trillion—dollars in assets. As Amazon has done for the retail consumer, Schwab and Company has been the source of countless innovations that have increased the wealth and knowledge of the individual investor.
Now age 82, Mr. Schwab ends his book with a deeply personal reflection on the values that have guided him throughout his life. A man of faith and family, he is also devoted to the principles of personal and economic freedom found in the U.S. Constitution. And thus, he correctly sees the world of business as “the human spirit of curiosity and creativity brought to life, and why I am ever optimistic about the future.”
A life in full, indeed.
December 27, 2019
If you want to understand the process of building a business from scratch, this book will give you complete perspective. Sometimes, I felt the author gives too much and too detailed information ex. On 3rd January, 1980 it was Monday morning when Larry entered my office and tapped my shoulder and said "We have to do this!". I am really not interested these many details!
March 14, 2025
This was an amazing book. I loved how it gave a little bit of everything. Charles Schwab's personal life, the story of investing in America from the 1970's until now, and all the business lessons learned by the Charles Schwab company. This is a great book for anyone interested in finance, investing, or the history of how small investors have been able to take part in the growth of corporate America! Here is one of my favorite quotes, "To be a successful investor, you’ve got to be an optimist. You have to believe in the innovations that come from the human mind and the human spirit."
January 19, 2021
Interesting, but shockingly un-self-aware.
The first half of this book was actually quite good for a book I got for free. It's fun to read about the scrappy early days of the company, where they take on Wall Street on behalf of the little guy. He decries how the established companies rip off their customers and employees alike.
BUT
But, the latter half is so clueless. He doesn't realize that his company has grown into exactly the kind of company he was originally trying to avoid. They trick their customers with hidden fees, and they cut 10,000 jobs while increasing their dividend and share buybacks. He has no idea how ridiculous and out-of-touch he seems by the end of it.
That said, I enjoyed reading it, if only for the unintentional irony.
The first half of this book was actually quite good for a book I got for free. It's fun to read about the scrappy early days of the company, where they take on Wall Street on behalf of the little guy. He decries how the established companies rip off their customers and employees alike.
BUT
But, the latter half is so clueless. He doesn't realize that his company has grown into exactly the kind of company he was originally trying to avoid. They trick their customers with hidden fees, and they cut 10,000 jobs while increasing their dividend and share buybacks. He has no idea how ridiculous and out-of-touch he seems by the end of it.
That said, I enjoyed reading it, if only for the unintentional irony.
January 13, 2020
While well written, the author assumes a significant level of knowledge on the part of the reader with regard to finance and investing terms which I do not, therefore it took me a while to get used to basic phrases in the book. I also was not personally brought into the story of the subject which makes the account more like a relaying of facts than a personal narrative of successes, failures, and lessons learned.
I would recommend only to those with knowledge and interest in the stock / fund trading industry.
I would recommend only to those with knowledge and interest in the stock / fund trading industry.
April 17, 2024
my innovative founding father 🙏
January 19, 2024
The man’s passion for his business and life could be felt throughout the entire book. Banger.
April 1, 2020
I love the company and loved the book. It was interesting, well-written, and motivational. It gave a lot of insight on the vision of the company and why they are what they are today.
December 30, 2023
not sure how this man didn’t have a heart attack
October 28, 2019
I admit some bias as a current employee, however, I found Invested an incredibly inspiring memoir centered on the rise of the business itself. Easy to see a client-centric, profitable, and successful Fortune 500 company today and assume that the person behind it came from money. Not so—several cases embedded within about how to handle various flavors of adversity and how to overcome them.
August 25, 2022
The first thing I discovered in Charles R. Schwab’s autobiography, Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest, was that he wasn’t (as I had erroneously presumed) related to the steel magnate, Charles M. Schwab (p. 15). Indeed, he didn’t come from wealth at all, having worked multiple jobs as a kid and a young man. And to make the company successful, he had to leverage what little he had on multiple occasions. While not being a “rags-to-riches” story, Schwab’s story is a “hard work-to-riches” story.
Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest is a story of vision, perseverance, and innovation. Better than many autobiographies, Schwab isn’t afraid to cover his failures and the company’s missteps. Indeed, two of the most poignant lines for me dealt with the idea of mistakes. First, “…everybody makes mistakes more than once, and any leeway you might gain from fudging it the first time will quickly disappear. Explain the situation, accept responsibility, fix it, move forward.” (p. 178) Second, “Innovators should expect failure, it’s part of the process. As head of the organization, it was my job to encourage experimentation, not punish failure.” (p. 217) In fact, one could add this early insight: “Sometimes a bright idea with a bad outcome is the one that gets you back on track toward the right one.” (p. 73)
It is also a story of embracing technology. Nearly every major advance Schwab made was due to embracing bleeding-edge technology with an eye to one thing, meeting customer needs. Although on a significantly smaller scale, I could resonate with Schwab’s philosophy of knowing customer needs and building what you would like versus market surveys and competitive studies (pp. 187-188). Having covered a portion of the technology industry during the years when the brokerage was making its most significant strides, I wholeheartedly agree that shaping technology to the need rather than trying to find a need for the technology is the best approach. In fact, the final chapter dealing with the corporate portion of the autobiography gives the company’s secret sauce as, “…building a company from a very simple and basic belief: that you view your decisions through the lens of your clients’ needs and goals.” (p. 321)
I agonized with Schwab as narrator when he talked about down-sizing (none of these “right-sizing” euphemisms used here) and the human costs of growing too fast or growing too complacent. I definitely appreciated him when he described the cultural shift that helped the company out of its crisis: “Now, if you had accountability, you were going to have decision authority.” (p. 264) Then, I cheered his narrative on as he talked about trying to stifle investor panic during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. I love the axiom cited: “It’s not timing the market that counts, but time in the market.” (p. 304)
Indeed, when it comes to the financial crisis, I remember giving the same advice as Schwab when a friend said he was selling everything and fleeing to gold. I keep some precious metals in my portfolio as a balancing factor (even though they don’t seem to behave as a hedge quite like they used to in the past) but I had not intention of dumping everything at a loss in hopes of getting back in at the right time. I urged him not to, but there were too many financial “experts” saying to do what he did. What do they care? They make commissions going up or down. That’s why I like Schwab’s summary: “There are a lot of mechanical explanations for what drove the crisis, involving esoteric concepts like ‘liquidity crunches,’ ‘derivatives,’ and ‘counterparty issues.’ To me, the simple answer is that too many people in financial services forgot that it’s not just money we deal with…its people’s money.” (p. 300) In other words, he would probably believe as does another financial specialist that one needs to watch out for those who have no “skin in the game.”
It was also enlightening to me to discover that trading hadn’t returned to earlier levels by 2010 (p. 311). Yet, as he had noted regarding the “dot bomb” (not his term) crisis: “I don’t think human nature deals very well with the patience and strong stomach investment requires. We’re designed for fight or flight.” (p. 171) I guess I’m one of the stubborn ones and, appropriately enough, I have been a Schwab client through more than one of the crises he describes in the book.
Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest works on two different levels. In one sense, it is the biography of a corporation as it evolves through the ebb and flow of economic exigencies and, in another, its narrative from that company’s founder and guiding light gives one the sense of place, time, and inflection points that makes an autobiography worth living. I would rate this higher as an autobiography except that I think it functions better as a corporate history.
Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest is a story of vision, perseverance, and innovation. Better than many autobiographies, Schwab isn’t afraid to cover his failures and the company’s missteps. Indeed, two of the most poignant lines for me dealt with the idea of mistakes. First, “…everybody makes mistakes more than once, and any leeway you might gain from fudging it the first time will quickly disappear. Explain the situation, accept responsibility, fix it, move forward.” (p. 178) Second, “Innovators should expect failure, it’s part of the process. As head of the organization, it was my job to encourage experimentation, not punish failure.” (p. 217) In fact, one could add this early insight: “Sometimes a bright idea with a bad outcome is the one that gets you back on track toward the right one.” (p. 73)
It is also a story of embracing technology. Nearly every major advance Schwab made was due to embracing bleeding-edge technology with an eye to one thing, meeting customer needs. Although on a significantly smaller scale, I could resonate with Schwab’s philosophy of knowing customer needs and building what you would like versus market surveys and competitive studies (pp. 187-188). Having covered a portion of the technology industry during the years when the brokerage was making its most significant strides, I wholeheartedly agree that shaping technology to the need rather than trying to find a need for the technology is the best approach. In fact, the final chapter dealing with the corporate portion of the autobiography gives the company’s secret sauce as, “…building a company from a very simple and basic belief: that you view your decisions through the lens of your clients’ needs and goals.” (p. 321)
I agonized with Schwab as narrator when he talked about down-sizing (none of these “right-sizing” euphemisms used here) and the human costs of growing too fast or growing too complacent. I definitely appreciated him when he described the cultural shift that helped the company out of its crisis: “Now, if you had accountability, you were going to have decision authority.” (p. 264) Then, I cheered his narrative on as he talked about trying to stifle investor panic during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. I love the axiom cited: “It’s not timing the market that counts, but time in the market.” (p. 304)
Indeed, when it comes to the financial crisis, I remember giving the same advice as Schwab when a friend said he was selling everything and fleeing to gold. I keep some precious metals in my portfolio as a balancing factor (even though they don’t seem to behave as a hedge quite like they used to in the past) but I had not intention of dumping everything at a loss in hopes of getting back in at the right time. I urged him not to, but there were too many financial “experts” saying to do what he did. What do they care? They make commissions going up or down. That’s why I like Schwab’s summary: “There are a lot of mechanical explanations for what drove the crisis, involving esoteric concepts like ‘liquidity crunches,’ ‘derivatives,’ and ‘counterparty issues.’ To me, the simple answer is that too many people in financial services forgot that it’s not just money we deal with…its people’s money.” (p. 300) In other words, he would probably believe as does another financial specialist that one needs to watch out for those who have no “skin in the game.”
It was also enlightening to me to discover that trading hadn’t returned to earlier levels by 2010 (p. 311). Yet, as he had noted regarding the “dot bomb” (not his term) crisis: “I don’t think human nature deals very well with the patience and strong stomach investment requires. We’re designed for fight or flight.” (p. 171) I guess I’m one of the stubborn ones and, appropriately enough, I have been a Schwab client through more than one of the crises he describes in the book.
Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest works on two different levels. In one sense, it is the biography of a corporation as it evolves through the ebb and flow of economic exigencies and, in another, its narrative from that company’s founder and guiding light gives one the sense of place, time, and inflection points that makes an autobiography worth living. I would rate this higher as an autobiography except that I think it functions better as a corporate history.
January 13, 2020
Charles Schwab revolutionized the investment industry through his eponymous firm. He did it via a single-minded focus on the needs of main street investors - a focus that immediately distinguished him from the vast majority of traditional Wall Street companies. This autobiography chronicles over 300+ pages of folksy, heartfelt prose his successes, failures, and lessons learned.
Schwab the man begins naturally with family history, upbringing, formative years, and education, and segues quickly to his early career as a financial analyst. After a variety of experiences at various other businesses, in 1975 at the age of 37, he launched Charles Schwab the company. The majority of the book relates the company’s market-doubling 19% annual growth rate. Given his experience and success, it’s no surprise that Schwab exhibits a strong preference for ‘growth’, both in his own and other companies.
Schwab’s innovations are central to its growth, including: un-conflicted advice and low-cost trade execution; access to no load mutual funds for a small commission, and then no commission; use by independent portfolio managers as a platform to serve third party clients; the introduction of telephone keypad, and then internet trading; the creation of an affiliated bank to enhance the breadth of service; and the introduction of salary-based advisors to enhance the depth of service. The calculated risks and the angst-filled moments associated with these innovations are retold by Schwab as recollections rather than academic lessons, but they illustrate in a very real way how companies, economies and societies thrive.
Schwab started in the investment business long enough ago that some of his anecdotes have a quaint or even humorous feel. For example, writing about stock market bubbles, he tells an early career story of a ‘bowling bubble’ in which the share price of companies associated with the fast-growing sport rose dramatically, only to crash when investors realized the bowling revolution was perhaps not as big as expected. An early lesson that served Schwab well in subsequent bubbles, and that will serve investors/readers well in future.
There is usually some serendipity in business success, and Schwab acknowledges it several times. For example, after a well-intentioned and financially lucrative sale of his company to Bank of America, then a neighbor and pillar of the San Francisco financial community, the relationship sours. Coincidentally the Bank runs into deep financial difficulties and looks to shed assets. (This is an earlier episode than when the bank ran into deep financial difficulties during the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis). The result is the sale of the Charles Schwab the company back to Charles Schwab the man. Shortly afterwards, Schwab takes his company public, fortuitously listing the shares just before the 1987 stock market crash and using the proceeds to pay down company debt.
There are plenty of lessons for main-street investors, too. The aforementioned lesson on bubbles is repeated in various forms, as is a warning to look at the incentives behind advice. Schwab reinforces the advice when he describes his company’s competitive position vis a vis Wall Street firms, or when his company requires its own corporate finance advice. “We didn’t want advice from brokers, because we knew that advice was tainted.” He takes his own counsel at other times too. Regarding strategic advice he (several times) sought from high-powered consultants at Bain, he says “I normally don’t trust ideas divorced from execution.” And he notes during his post-sale tenure on the board of Bank of America the lack of alignment of incentives between other directors with few shares and himself, with the largest single shareholding.
Schwab’s personal and corporate history is told like a reminiscence (“As I recall ...”), with facts seemingly checked from personal records or from a few calls to colleagues and friends. Nowhere is there score-settling or attacks of character; rather quite the opposite is true. The author’s boundless optimism combined with his ability to see the best in people renders personal quirks and professional failings of colleagues to the occasional factual commentary.
At times I wished the book had more detailed explanations of the market mechanics pertinent to the storyline – how broker commissions and corporate finance combine to form conflicts of interest; why layering subordinated debt in Schwab’s levered post Bank of America incarnation was a good structure; how program trading exacerbated market volatility – but while it would have added depth, it would also have been inconsistent with who Charles Schwab is: a marketing guy who focused on Main Street investors’ needs.
Schwab the man begins naturally with family history, upbringing, formative years, and education, and segues quickly to his early career as a financial analyst. After a variety of experiences at various other businesses, in 1975 at the age of 37, he launched Charles Schwab the company. The majority of the book relates the company’s market-doubling 19% annual growth rate. Given his experience and success, it’s no surprise that Schwab exhibits a strong preference for ‘growth’, both in his own and other companies.
Schwab’s innovations are central to its growth, including: un-conflicted advice and low-cost trade execution; access to no load mutual funds for a small commission, and then no commission; use by independent portfolio managers as a platform to serve third party clients; the introduction of telephone keypad, and then internet trading; the creation of an affiliated bank to enhance the breadth of service; and the introduction of salary-based advisors to enhance the depth of service. The calculated risks and the angst-filled moments associated with these innovations are retold by Schwab as recollections rather than academic lessons, but they illustrate in a very real way how companies, economies and societies thrive.
Schwab started in the investment business long enough ago that some of his anecdotes have a quaint or even humorous feel. For example, writing about stock market bubbles, he tells an early career story of a ‘bowling bubble’ in which the share price of companies associated with the fast-growing sport rose dramatically, only to crash when investors realized the bowling revolution was perhaps not as big as expected. An early lesson that served Schwab well in subsequent bubbles, and that will serve investors/readers well in future.
There is usually some serendipity in business success, and Schwab acknowledges it several times. For example, after a well-intentioned and financially lucrative sale of his company to Bank of America, then a neighbor and pillar of the San Francisco financial community, the relationship sours. Coincidentally the Bank runs into deep financial difficulties and looks to shed assets. (This is an earlier episode than when the bank ran into deep financial difficulties during the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis). The result is the sale of the Charles Schwab the company back to Charles Schwab the man. Shortly afterwards, Schwab takes his company public, fortuitously listing the shares just before the 1987 stock market crash and using the proceeds to pay down company debt.
There are plenty of lessons for main-street investors, too. The aforementioned lesson on bubbles is repeated in various forms, as is a warning to look at the incentives behind advice. Schwab reinforces the advice when he describes his company’s competitive position vis a vis Wall Street firms, or when his company requires its own corporate finance advice. “We didn’t want advice from brokers, because we knew that advice was tainted.” He takes his own counsel at other times too. Regarding strategic advice he (several times) sought from high-powered consultants at Bain, he says “I normally don’t trust ideas divorced from execution.” And he notes during his post-sale tenure on the board of Bank of America the lack of alignment of incentives between other directors with few shares and himself, with the largest single shareholding.
Schwab’s personal and corporate history is told like a reminiscence (“As I recall ...”), with facts seemingly checked from personal records or from a few calls to colleagues and friends. Nowhere is there score-settling or attacks of character; rather quite the opposite is true. The author’s boundless optimism combined with his ability to see the best in people renders personal quirks and professional failings of colleagues to the occasional factual commentary.
At times I wished the book had more detailed explanations of the market mechanics pertinent to the storyline – how broker commissions and corporate finance combine to form conflicts of interest; why layering subordinated debt in Schwab’s levered post Bank of America incarnation was a good structure; how program trading exacerbated market volatility – but while it would have added depth, it would also have been inconsistent with who Charles Schwab is: a marketing guy who focused on Main Street investors’ needs.
October 11, 2020
Invested is an excellent autobiography on the life and the company built Charles Schwab. For a company as successful as Schwab, this book focused more on times of distress for the company and how they ultimately persevered through those episodes. I enjoyed some great stories about how Schwab made it through the 1987 market crash, how the company divested itself from BoA, and how Charles Schwab came back in the early 2000s to turn around the business. Sprinkled throughout the book are numerous lessons for risk-taking for entrepreneurs and timeless investment advice. In particular, here are two key points I took away from Invested.
1. Intense focus on the client: One recurring theme in all periods of Schwab's business history is the intense focus on improving service and costs for clients. Schwab pioneered many things we take for granted today, such as no-fee IRAs, on-line trading, and commission free-trading (a new one since this book came out), to name just a few. As Charles Schwab said in the last chapter of the book, he attributed a large part of his success to having total empathy for his clients.
2. Business life cycle and importance of growth: I've always been fascinated by how growth companies that are wildly succeeding need to raise lots of capital to continue to grow and thrive. In its early years, Schwab was no different (reminds me of Nike in Shoe Dog). This need for capital led them to join BoA, which ultimately proved a bad decision as BoA had some severe issues (though Schwab spun off from them after a few years). I also appreciated Schwab's chapters on returning to the company to lead the turnaround efforts (similar to what happened at Apple, Nike, Dell & Starbucks).
Anyone interested in business and investing autobiographies will enjoy this book. Finally, here are a few quotes I liked from Invested.
“Chuck’s secret sauce,” all of them in lockstep pursuing a simple innovation, total empathy for our clients: make it better, easier, more successful for the investor. I called it the mother lode of our innovations, more important than any single technology or new product. It was building a company from a basic belief: view your decisions through your clients’ eyes.
If I had learned anything after years in the business, it was how little I could ever know about what the market would do tomorrow.
There is a central truth about investing: time is on your side when there’s plenty of it; it can be your worst enemy when it’s scarce.
To be a successful investor, you’ve got to be an optimist. You have to believe in the innovations that come from the human mind and the human spirit.
1. Intense focus on the client: One recurring theme in all periods of Schwab's business history is the intense focus on improving service and costs for clients. Schwab pioneered many things we take for granted today, such as no-fee IRAs, on-line trading, and commission free-trading (a new one since this book came out), to name just a few. As Charles Schwab said in the last chapter of the book, he attributed a large part of his success to having total empathy for his clients.
2. Business life cycle and importance of growth: I've always been fascinated by how growth companies that are wildly succeeding need to raise lots of capital to continue to grow and thrive. In its early years, Schwab was no different (reminds me of Nike in Shoe Dog). This need for capital led them to join BoA, which ultimately proved a bad decision as BoA had some severe issues (though Schwab spun off from them after a few years). I also appreciated Schwab's chapters on returning to the company to lead the turnaround efforts (similar to what happened at Apple, Nike, Dell & Starbucks).
Anyone interested in business and investing autobiographies will enjoy this book. Finally, here are a few quotes I liked from Invested.
“Chuck’s secret sauce,” all of them in lockstep pursuing a simple innovation, total empathy for our clients: make it better, easier, more successful for the investor. I called it the mother lode of our innovations, more important than any single technology or new product. It was building a company from a basic belief: view your decisions through your clients’ eyes.
If I had learned anything after years in the business, it was how little I could ever know about what the market would do tomorrow.
There is a central truth about investing: time is on your side when there’s plenty of it; it can be your worst enemy when it’s scarce.
To be a successful investor, you’ve got to be an optimist. You have to believe in the innovations that come from the human mind and the human spirit.
June 14, 2024
Usually I save 4-stars for books I’ve enjoyed and would read again. But, this one earned it anyway, though I am unlikely to reread it.
I’ve read my share of histories and autobiographies, biographies, and the like and few have been as thought provoking and engaging as Invested. Yes, it’s the story of the company Charles Schwab & Company. Yes, it’s autobiographical (to a point). Yes it’s American corporate history.
If none of these is to your taste, it’s still quite well-written. The man, Charles Schwab, clearly has amazing communication skills.Schwab shares his struggles with dyslexia, growing up in an era where it was undiagnosed and unlabeled. He mentions that, early in his career, he learned he could dictate and have someone type up his dictation (30 years ago I did similar work for an appraiser). The book reads like he just sat down with you in a library and said, “Well, here’s how it happened,” and told you the story of his company.
It’s extraordinarily well-edited. There are very few repetitions of information, except where needed to make sure the reader is still following. The narrative is mostly chronological, though at times decisions have to be taken back to a previous time and historical circumstances need explaining. But none of this gets in the way of the narrative nor does it become tedious. You get the information you need succinctly and move forward with the story. I never felt it dragged and only once did I lose track of the names being mentioned and need to look back.
I’m old enough to remember a few of the historic business details to which the book refers. We didn’t become investors ourselves until the early 90s, but even then some of the practices that the Schwab Company was created to “overcome” were still in place. Excessively high commissions on stock transactions for the average investor remained the norm in the 90’s if you weren’t investing with customer-forward companies like Schwab, or at least a discount broker.
My husband and I had fun conversations about the book’s topics. Did we remember when we first placed a trade via touchtone telephone? When did he start a 401K? When did we first place a stock trade online? The Schwab company was there for all of that era and were among the first to offer these tools. The tech story alone is an interesting read.
If you like autobiographies, have any curiosity about late 20th century American banking and finance, or just a good story about entrepreneurship, then Invested is definitely worthy of your time.
I’ve read my share of histories and autobiographies, biographies, and the like and few have been as thought provoking and engaging as Invested. Yes, it’s the story of the company Charles Schwab & Company. Yes, it’s autobiographical (to a point). Yes it’s American corporate history.
If none of these is to your taste, it’s still quite well-written. The man, Charles Schwab, clearly has amazing communication skills.Schwab shares his struggles with dyslexia, growing up in an era where it was undiagnosed and unlabeled. He mentions that, early in his career, he learned he could dictate and have someone type up his dictation (30 years ago I did similar work for an appraiser). The book reads like he just sat down with you in a library and said, “Well, here’s how it happened,” and told you the story of his company.
It’s extraordinarily well-edited. There are very few repetitions of information, except where needed to make sure the reader is still following. The narrative is mostly chronological, though at times decisions have to be taken back to a previous time and historical circumstances need explaining. But none of this gets in the way of the narrative nor does it become tedious. You get the information you need succinctly and move forward with the story. I never felt it dragged and only once did I lose track of the names being mentioned and need to look back.
I’m old enough to remember a few of the historic business details to which the book refers. We didn’t become investors ourselves until the early 90s, but even then some of the practices that the Schwab Company was created to “overcome” were still in place. Excessively high commissions on stock transactions for the average investor remained the norm in the 90’s if you weren’t investing with customer-forward companies like Schwab, or at least a discount broker.
My husband and I had fun conversations about the book’s topics. Did we remember when we first placed a trade via touchtone telephone? When did he start a 401K? When did we first place a stock trade online? The Schwab company was there for all of that era and were among the first to offer these tools. The tech story alone is an interesting read.
If you like autobiographies, have any curiosity about late 20th century American banking and finance, or just a good story about entrepreneurship, then Invested is definitely worthy of your time.
January 10, 2021
Charles Schwab, Stanford MBA and Stanford B.S. Economics, is a true beast of investment banking. He brought Main st. to Wall St. in his accented discount brokerage. He empowered households across America to build wealth through investing.
In the 1980s, IRAs and mortgages found their way into a bull market that hit $1000 in 1981 and $6000 before the end of the decade, (only the 31 month, longest consecutive bull market from 09-20 rivals this), Schwab was focused on the small guy, making investing affordable to Joe at home. Schwab continued valuing Mom's and Pop's as he saw Charles Schwab Corporation rake in billions. Through 9 stock market crashes, he continues to value customer service. He 'pioneered' 24-hour investing advice, brought investing to the internet, and held the buck down for his customers. "See through my eyes - Schwab" is a Schwab advert of the information age.
See the market as Schwab would. As TD Ameritrade and Etrade forced down the discount price, Charles Schwab strained to redesign his company branding to this "new consumer type"-electronic and ubiquitous. He 1. sold ultra-wealthy assets manager U.S. Trust, a Merger and Acquisition, early Schwab, whose services planned for an average $50 million account. He 2. lowered the mandatory minimum to $1000 to capture the young financier. Finally, he 3. expanded the availability of financial advisors from optional to included for clients w/ holdings over $100k. Financial advisors used to be an option, a fund manager, who listened to the level of risk you seek, what companies you were interested, and the advisor would make the buys and sells for you. You can now really understand the market you put your hard earned dollars into.
Growing numbers of Middle class investors moving their 401k and savings onto the stock market. Who was once a middle-class saver is the new middle-class investor. In this page-turning dictation of his life, with its ups and downs "Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Reinvest" brings you the life of Charles Schwab Corporation, told by the man himself. Through 9 financial cracks, Charles Schwab successfully maneuvered. He grew to become a national presence, opening branches in every major city across the country.
with the creation of social security, 401k, IRA availability in the Nixon era, Americans grew their consumable income. They became savers. Ones who mass an amount, grow it to the best it can be. Americans could invest their IRA amount in a matched stock market acount. Money was continued to flow into people's wallets and not be spent. When Baby Boomers reached retirement age in the early 2000s, this capital entered the stock market.
This book was given to me and my mother as gifts from the new Financial Advisor team assigned to my mom's favorable account, January 2020.
In the 1980s, IRAs and mortgages found their way into a bull market that hit $1000 in 1981 and $6000 before the end of the decade, (only the 31 month, longest consecutive bull market from 09-20 rivals this), Schwab was focused on the small guy, making investing affordable to Joe at home. Schwab continued valuing Mom's and Pop's as he saw Charles Schwab Corporation rake in billions. Through 9 stock market crashes, he continues to value customer service. He 'pioneered' 24-hour investing advice, brought investing to the internet, and held the buck down for his customers. "See through my eyes - Schwab" is a Schwab advert of the information age.
See the market as Schwab would. As TD Ameritrade and Etrade forced down the discount price, Charles Schwab strained to redesign his company branding to this "new consumer type"-electronic and ubiquitous. He 1. sold ultra-wealthy assets manager U.S. Trust, a Merger and Acquisition, early Schwab, whose services planned for an average $50 million account. He 2. lowered the mandatory minimum to $1000 to capture the young financier. Finally, he 3. expanded the availability of financial advisors from optional to included for clients w/ holdings over $100k. Financial advisors used to be an option, a fund manager, who listened to the level of risk you seek, what companies you were interested, and the advisor would make the buys and sells for you. You can now really understand the market you put your hard earned dollars into.
Growing numbers of Middle class investors moving their 401k and savings onto the stock market. Who was once a middle-class saver is the new middle-class investor. In this page-turning dictation of his life, with its ups and downs "Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Reinvest" brings you the life of Charles Schwab Corporation, told by the man himself. Through 9 financial cracks, Charles Schwab successfully maneuvered. He grew to become a national presence, opening branches in every major city across the country.
with the creation of social security, 401k, IRA availability in the Nixon era, Americans grew their consumable income. They became savers. Ones who mass an amount, grow it to the best it can be. Americans could invest their IRA amount in a matched stock market acount. Money was continued to flow into people's wallets and not be spent. When Baby Boomers reached retirement age in the early 2000s, this capital entered the stock market.
This book was given to me and my mother as gifts from the new Financial Advisor team assigned to my mom's favorable account, January 2020.
April 27, 2022
Is the book going to change the way I invest? No. Has this company changed the way we invest? Yes. If it wasn't for Schwab we could still be paying (a lot) for each transaction and have the need to call brokers on the phone and get bombarded with recommendations instead of deciding for ourselves what to buy/sell. Granted, somebody else would have revolutionized the brokers, but this is the story of how it happened. The treacherousness of Schwab comes with many lessons, primarily aimed at "owning" your company, believing in (your) innovation, not giving a crap about what others may say, and going your own way. He wanted a change, something that has arisen from his personal need of affordable investing where costs are low, and he did it. Creations like this that fill first and foremost a personal need, then go on to fill many others' requirements can go a long way, as I see it in my business too. For me this book was less about investing and more about business/leadership, creating something from the ground up, and believing in that you can create something great.
We take for granted the instant execution of trades, the $1 or even less commissions, PC and mobile interfaces, but it wasn't always like this. While the market existed (even if you can't see much before the 70s on a non-inflation-corrected chart), access to them was far from easy. The transformation Schwab brought to the scene is fascinating and is worth a read / listen. The story needed to be told. It also covers how crashes were from the viewpoint of a broker, all the hardships, having to let people go because they were too many, helping some clients avoid a margin call, firing your right-hand man after 20 years because he wanted to sell the company, it's all in there. The only pity is that they don't open accounts for people in my country, or so I was told.
We take for granted the instant execution of trades, the $1 or even less commissions, PC and mobile interfaces, but it wasn't always like this. While the market existed (even if you can't see much before the 70s on a non-inflation-corrected chart), access to them was far from easy. The transformation Schwab brought to the scene is fascinating and is worth a read / listen. The story needed to be told. It also covers how crashes were from the viewpoint of a broker, all the hardships, having to let people go because they were too many, helping some clients avoid a margin call, firing your right-hand man after 20 years because he wanted to sell the company, it's all in there. The only pity is that they don't open accounts for people in my country, or so I was told.
June 16, 2025
"Some people are born leaders, I guess, but for most of us the ability to lead comes from experience. The more you lead, the more it develops as a strength."
"From the time I turned 17, through college and business school, I was never without a summer job of some kind. As soon as school ended in the spring, I’d find someone who was looking for help. I worked as a roustabout in the oil fields one summer, moving pipes as the oil crews prepared to pump from the wells. I worked at the county fairground and local golf club washing dishes.
Sometimes the lesson I learned from these jobs was about what I didn’t want my life to be. Seeing what was out there—how other people found themselves trapped by their jobs with little hope of escaping—helped me get through school."
“My independence—lay with starting my own company. Experiencing how powerful and motivating that sense of ownership is, I’ve always encouraged and helped my employees over the years to be owners in our company as well.”
"I realize now that I was not what anyone today would describe as a great father. I missed a lot of family dinners, I wasn’t helping with homework, I wasn’t on the sidelines at my kids’ sporting events."
This book inspired me to start a small venture of my own, and reminded me of the importance of constantly innovating.
"From the time I turned 17, through college and business school, I was never without a summer job of some kind. As soon as school ended in the spring, I’d find someone who was looking for help. I worked as a roustabout in the oil fields one summer, moving pipes as the oil crews prepared to pump from the wells. I worked at the county fairground and local golf club washing dishes.
Sometimes the lesson I learned from these jobs was about what I didn’t want my life to be. Seeing what was out there—how other people found themselves trapped by their jobs with little hope of escaping—helped me get through school."
“My independence—lay with starting my own company. Experiencing how powerful and motivating that sense of ownership is, I’ve always encouraged and helped my employees over the years to be owners in our company as well.”
"I realize now that I was not what anyone today would describe as a great father. I missed a lot of family dinners, I wasn’t helping with homework, I wasn’t on the sidelines at my kids’ sporting events."
This book inspired me to start a small venture of my own, and reminded me of the importance of constantly innovating.
July 3, 2022
I enjoyed reading the book and hear about Charles Swab story. It is a tale for entrepreneurs who wish to defy an industry establishment and show that there is a possibility for a better way. Inspiring story!
I also very like the personal reflections chapter at the end that shows a more vulnerable “Chuck” and what is at stakes to succeed. In fact, the most valuable key take aways of the book are there.
Some quotes that resonate with me:
“there is a central truth about investing: time is on your side when there is plenty of it, it can be your worst enemy when it’s scarce”.
“whatever its source, the jump into the abyss is also never simply a blind leap of faith that puts everything at risk, at least not for me. You are never gambling the whole house, you take calculated risks. You have thought things through, and experience and maturity and intuition and the tests you go through give you incrementally better odds each time. 1987 was one of those tests.”
“Chuck’s secret sauce: all of them in lockstep pursuing a simple innovation, total empathy for our clients: make it better, easier, more successful for the investor.”
“Business is all about people and you need to find those who share your vision and values, who will bring their own passion and strengths to the task”.
I also very like the personal reflections chapter at the end that shows a more vulnerable “Chuck” and what is at stakes to succeed. In fact, the most valuable key take aways of the book are there.
Some quotes that resonate with me:
“there is a central truth about investing: time is on your side when there is plenty of it, it can be your worst enemy when it’s scarce”.
“whatever its source, the jump into the abyss is also never simply a blind leap of faith that puts everything at risk, at least not for me. You are never gambling the whole house, you take calculated risks. You have thought things through, and experience and maturity and intuition and the tests you go through give you incrementally better odds each time. 1987 was one of those tests.”
“Chuck’s secret sauce: all of them in lockstep pursuing a simple innovation, total empathy for our clients: make it better, easier, more successful for the investor.”
“Business is all about people and you need to find those who share your vision and values, who will bring their own passion and strengths to the task”.
November 21, 2021
I added this one to my reading list about three months ago. This is when I started investing with a great sense of urgency. Time’s arrow 🕰🏹, it only marches forward.
‘Invested’, btw, is not a book about investing. Neither is the book an autobiography of the person, Charles Schwab.
It is a careful narrative of the eponymous company. How Charles Schwab morphed from being a mere (often disreputable) discount brokerage to the now everything-store investing powerhouse.
I am such a fan of people who champion the consumer. A company founded by an individual investor, for fellow individual investors. Just like Nike originally: by runners for runners (throwback to 🛁#12🙃)
The crusade that Charles Schwab took on for consumers ultimately sped up the power transfer to the little guy. The fact that it’s as easy to buy five shares of Walmart as it is to send a mediocre geofilter selfie Snapchat..that’s a miracle.
I think it was worthwhile reading about how the traditionally opaque, complex world of investing was (and continues to be) disrupted by the unquenchable pursuit of simplicity.
‘Invested’, btw, is not a book about investing. Neither is the book an autobiography of the person, Charles Schwab.
It is a careful narrative of the eponymous company. How Charles Schwab morphed from being a mere (often disreputable) discount brokerage to the now everything-store investing powerhouse.
I am such a fan of people who champion the consumer. A company founded by an individual investor, for fellow individual investors. Just like Nike originally: by runners for runners (throwback to 🛁#12🙃)
The crusade that Charles Schwab took on for consumers ultimately sped up the power transfer to the little guy. The fact that it’s as easy to buy five shares of Walmart as it is to send a mediocre geofilter selfie Snapchat..that’s a miracle.
I think it was worthwhile reading about how the traditionally opaque, complex world of investing was (and continues to be) disrupted by the unquenchable pursuit of simplicity.
September 22, 2019
This book should be required reading for any Business 101 class. It’s a great case study. Author Charles Schwab takes the reader through the history of his company. It’s a layman’s read, easy to follow and understand. The book follows the company’s successes and its challenges in very clear detail. Each milestone is presented in context, as a lesson or an opportunity. You can feel Schwab’s love of innovation, his passion. At its core, the book is about building and maintaining a successful business and all of the difficult decisions that come with that. It’s very pragmatic. But, in an underlying theme, the book is also about the American Dream. It carries a refreshing optimism about America and opportunity, and builds a strong case for a free-market society, full of independence and dreams, and energy. There are so many good gems in this book, advice for entrepreneurs and for life. (I received a pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.)
January 31, 2020
Just finished this book and had such a pleasure reading it! A few months ago, at a fintech conference, I had a chance to see a fireside chat with Charles Schwab where he referred to this book a couple of times. His insights were so interesting that I really wanted to read the whole thing - and I am really glad I did.
It’s not so much a book about investing (although there are some good lessons on that too), as it is about entrepreneurship, grit and overall ‘rags to riches’ story of Schwab’s life. With ever changing financial services landscape and technology enabling more and more people to become investors, I believe, this book really shows how the landscape has been changes in the past four decades.
It’s not so much a book about investing (although there are some good lessons on that too), as it is about entrepreneurship, grit and overall ‘rags to riches’ story of Schwab’s life. With ever changing financial services landscape and technology enabling more and more people to become investors, I believe, this book really shows how the landscape has been changes in the past four decades.
December 9, 2019
Enjoyed this review of modern investing history. So much changed with regard to how Americans and the world for that matter, handled their personal funds during the last five decades. Schwab does an excellent job of not only telling his company's story but the story of personal money management and the events that shaped how we invest. Reading this book with its detailed and thoughtful description of the Charles Schwab Corporation's life cycles reminded me of the case studies I read in business school. It also made me think about the ups and downs and how corporations I worked at for 40 years dealt with their challenges. This should be required reading for B-school students.
May 18, 2020
Invested gives a high level overview of how Charles Schwab create the iconic self service brokerage film we know today. From the upstart days of taking on wall street to the board rooms of Bank of America he recounts at a high level the ups and downs of the company. The book gives a solid history of the financial industry and how Schwab fits into it. As an avid reader of finance and economic books I was looking for more detail and kept waiting for him to go deeper. He does keep it at a laymans level, and it is a book without jargon that can be appreciated by a wide audience. If you are interested in how the investment industry has been changed over time this is a great overview.
July 31, 2022
History of the Charles Schwab & Co. by the founder himself is an inspiring tale of how he started out to make the playing field level for individual investors and shake up the personal finance industry. As Chuck Schwab explains, each business goes through growing pains and comes close to a disaster several times, but emerges stronger as companies are willing to learn and adapt and leaders are not afraid to make bold decisions. Along the way, he provides a perspective on major financial events since 1970s and how they impacted personal investment industry and how Charles Schwab tackled them
June 19, 2024
This book made me want to invest not just for me but for my son.
Charles Schwab's story isn't necessarily unique as he came from little and with grit and determination made so much more than he thought he could have. His company went through ups and downs. If a company doesn't then growth doesn't take place. Some of the explanations were over my head but the whole gist of the story was it's important to think of the future and not just now. It's important to be aware of clients and their needs and to secure relationships with employees.
Charles Schwab's story isn't necessarily unique as he came from little and with grit and determination made so much more than he thought he could have. His company went through ups and downs. If a company doesn't then growth doesn't take place. Some of the explanations were over my head but the whole gist of the story was it's important to think of the future and not just now. It's important to be aware of clients and their needs and to secure relationships with employees.
November 25, 2019
I've read all of Chuck Schwab's books. This one is my favorite for the way it conveys a lifetime of wisdom about business and investing. It's also the most personal, with plenty open dialogue about the smart moves and lessons learned. Schwab has had an amazing journey since May Day. This book gives the reader a chance to experience that history in just over 300 pages that are as straightforward and concise as is the leader that guided his team every step of the way.
September 9, 2021
I did not know how much Charles Schwab influenced the modern investing systems and establishments that individual investors use today. I'd put Charles Schwab and his team up with other visionaries like Steve Jobs and Apple or Bill Gates and Microsoft.
I loved Charles' approach to product management and the customer focus and empathy for his target persona. This book is an excellent book for anyone interested in improving their leadership and business skills.
I loved Charles' approach to product management and the customer focus and empathy for his target persona. This book is an excellent book for anyone interested in improving their leadership and business skills.
March 15, 2023
Surprisingly good as the biography of a company, and a man who defines himself by his company. I disagree with Schwab on just about everything, but I appreciated the insights into the business world and how he navigated the financial environment over the past 40 years.
There's a significant amount of self-serving retconning of past events and creative use of hindsight, but the book is worth reading if you apply a critical filter.
There's a significant amount of self-serving retconning of past events and creative use of hindsight, but the book is worth reading if you apply a critical filter.
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