El pequeño libro de la inversión segura: Qué debes y qué no debes hacer para proteger tu dinero

by Ben Stein, Phil DeMuth

A la hora de invertir, hay que tener en cuenta algunas cosas esenciales que se deben hacer y muchas que no se deben hacer. Este libro, pequeño y práctico, enumera las primeras y las segundas y nos enseña cómo utilizar los aspectos fundamentales de las finanzas para alcanzar el éxito en el mercado real.

¿Tienes dudas sobre la composición de tu cartera de inversiones para asegurarte una jubilación tranquila? ¿Quieres protegerte de las desgracias financieras de la vida moderna? Éste es tu libro: sin trucos ni promesas de riqueza súbita, pero lleno del sentido común que, por alguna razón, entre los inversores es el menos común de los sentidos.

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

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 19, 2010

About the author

Benjamin Stein is a multifaceted American figure known for his work as a writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on politics and economics. He began his public life as a speechwriter for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, later gaining widespread recognition in the entertainment world for his deadpan comedic style. Stein became a pop culture icon through his role as the monotone economics teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and as the host of Win Ben Stein’s Money, a game show that earned multiple Emmy Awards. He also played Dr. Arthur Neuman in The Mask and its sequel. A Yale Law School valedictorian, Stein worked as a lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission and taught law and economics at Pepperdine University.
A prolific columnist, Stein has contributed to The American Spectator, Newsmax, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. His books, often co-authored with Phil DeMuth, address financial planning and economic commentary. In 2008, he wrote and starred in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a controversial documentary criticized for promoting intelligent design.
Politically conservative, Stein has defended Nixon's legacy, expressed strong views on U.S. foreign policy, and advocated higher taxes on the wealthy to support military initiatives and reduce national debt. During the 2008 financial crisis, he came under scrutiny for downplaying early warning signs and misjudging the scale of the economic collapse.
Stein has also had an extensive voice acting and television career, appearing in series such as The Wonder Years, Seinfeld, and Family Guy, and voicing characters in The Fairly OddParents, Rugrats, and Animaniacs. His personal life includes a long-standing marriage to entertainment lawyer Alexandra Denman and homes in California, Idaho, and Washington, D.C. Though often polarizing in his opinions, Stein remains a recognizable figure across political, academic, and entertainment domains.

Reviews

[Harry Barnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ben Stein really just collected a paycheck for a half ass job on this book. The valuable information on investing is contained within about 15 pages of the book. The rest of the book is a hodgepodge that could have been thrown together in one weekend. He includes advice that is nothing more than a slew of commencement address cliches for young people about to enter the job market. He advises us to avoid credit card debt and to buy our clothes at Brooks Brothers.
The investment advice is not bad but he should have used more space in the book developing his concepts instead of tossing in all of the other useless filler material.

[Tori · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can sum up the useful advice in this book: invest early, trade infrequently.

That could have taken up one page and instead it was stretched onto 199 others as well. The rest of the book is pretty pointless unless you are an upper middle class man with hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest. They offer weirdly conflicting advice like the only careers worth pursuing are those that make a lot of money such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers, and any other education is worthless so don't bother with humanities, art, music, or teaching. But then they talk about retirement being a time to enjoy arts and volunteer more. What art will there be to enjoy? What nonprofits to volunteer at? Or are the rest of us who have been pursuing those fields all along just poor idiots who will continue our ways?

A happy life is more valuable than one with full accounts at the end, and for most of us that path doesn't come via those limited professions.

In the section of education advice they also suggest befriending your professors, which is something that usually only happens if the guy is the smartest in the class or a gal is a 'cutie-pie.' Are all professors straight males looking for inappropriate relationships? Can the top student not be a woman?

What could have been a marginally useful book on investing and planning for retirement was overshadowed by sexist and misguided personal advice hoping to create a society of clones in Brooks Brothers apparel.

[Russ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a primer on lifetime financial planning and investing. It's worthwhile if you've never planned and/or you need to start investing. With proper supervision, the book would be a good graduation present for high school seniors.

[Stanley Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed learning from the financial common sense purveyor Ben Stein. He and Phil DeMuth collaborated on this small, easily read overview of personal finance management. It may be too elementary for those with a penchant for economics and personal finance, but I found the 2 hr investment of my time well worth spent re-learning some basic, common sense themes to personal finances.
This should be required reading of all high school seniors and most of their parents.
Buy it for your children or grandchildren as a Christmas stocking present.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author tries really hard to be sarcastic and witty without really getting his point across.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very average in my estimation.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more and better

[Vigneshwaar Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for a student who's leaving college and stepping into the real world.

[Madhur Ahuja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre book. The ideas presented are very rudimentary.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want a diatribe on “frivolous liberal arts degrees,” why you shouldn’t sell when the market is down -duh-, or other ridiculous, watered down bunk, read this book. Ugh.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of a shotgun of basic advice, with chapters addressing all kinds of topics from the stock / bond ratio in your portfolio to what kind of stocks or funds to buy. Since it's only 200 pages, there's only room for bits of advice and a lot of wry humor. Some of it is sarcastic and almost appears to be giving you the exact wrong advice (I suspect taken strongly from How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio), and in one or two spots it gets hard to tell because the editing could have been better.

I can't even say it's bits of investing advice, because there are chapters about selecting a major in college and choosing a career that pays decently and how to act like a grown-up and hold down a steady job ("investing in yourself"). Even the target audience is a bit scattershot, starting with middle age people who don't know the first thing about investing for retirement, DIY amateurs like me, and even that teenage set who apparently needs parental advice from Ben Stein that they wouldn't accept from their parents. Actually, you could do worse than listening to advice from him.

There were a couple of tidbits of information or advice that were useful to me, from the web site the authors set up (http://tangentportfolio.com/) to mentioning specific small company value funds that might be worth purchasing (they seem a bit too fond of Vanguard in general). Their look at creating a portfolio based on how much of your investments you're willing to lose in a year is a decent alternative way of calculating what kind of risk you'd accept -- I just wish they'd taken it further than 33%. For a one-day easy read, those bits did make it worth my time.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little book! Everyone should read it. It offers sensible and specific investment suggestions (tickers, percentages, everything). But, my favorite chapters were those discussing education and career. Anybody who has children who will someday go to college should read this and share it with them when they get close to that point in their lives. Wonderful advice on getting an education that will help you actually get a job that might make some money(hint: Art History isn't that education, says the Art History major). Also loved the discussion on work ethic/career. Good thoughts about consumption; nobody's worth is tied up in what they own, Warren Buffet as the usual example of not being flashy. The retirement section also gave good, specific financial advice but also good life advice; especially enjoying the good things that are available to us nearly for free: nature, libraries, service. All this told in the charming voice of Ben Stein. Read it!

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one, it was a good no nonsense book that had some stategies/theories/approaches to investing that I thought were interesting and doable. Most of the finance books I have read contain the same tried and true advice..buy low, sell high, diversify etc...but this one put some new perspective on the old advice which was kind of refreshing I thought. I think my favorite section of the book was the part on education. I thought it was really, really great advice. It was also nice to read something current, i.e. post-housing bust/massive recession On the downside, compared to other finance books I have read very little time was spent reminding the reader that there is life beyond your career, money isn't everything and charitable giving should be a priority. I prefer a little more balance...this book definitely encourages a work-a-holic lifestyle. Other than that I thought it was a good book with solid advice and Ben Stein to boot!

[Christopher Obert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bulletproof is a handy little book of suggestions and ideas to build up your investing health. The suggestions are simple and easy to understand and well explained. I personally like that the authors mention that you need to take control of the way in which you live your life. It is a very important part of being successful but rarely mentioned in other investing books.

[Ger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book! A sensible approach to financial planning and good personal advice that could help one avoid many mistakes in life. A must for every library and an excellent book for young people just beginning life.

[Kate P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was solid investing advice and the second half practical life advice. Ben's sense of humor keeps it all interesting. I know my mom gave these out for graduation gifts.

[Zack McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those who are not financial experts and are only novice investors. The authors did a great job avoiding jargon and technical lingo while presenting solid analysis and research regarding the stock market. To sum up the advice given: do not buy and sell stocks often. Buy and hold. even if the price dips, never sell low. Diversify using what the author's call a "Tangent" portfolio which is a selection of securities that will stand up reasonably well through the unpredictable fluctuations in the market. The lesson I drew most from this book is: there is no way to definitively make it rich in the stock market because there is no way to accurately predict what could happen. You just have to be as prepared as possible.
I went ahead and gave this book five stars, but there are 2 or 3 chapters about two-thirds of the way through that could have been left out in which the authors decided to give more generalized life advice. Their financial advice is sound, but I found the other advice off-putting. Im not claiming it was wrong ir right, It just didn't belong in this book.

[Queen Coloman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part of this book was a great introduction to sensible, long-term investing, with a workable blueprint for anyone who really just wants to follow instructions and get (relatively) safe returns.

The last part is the usual rubbish you get when middle-aged men who are experts in one topic think that makes them experts in other topics. When I picked up a book about investing I was not looking for Stein and DeMuth’s opinions on higher education and what sort of person I should marry. Clearly they ran out of content and needed something else to pad their booklet out with. Not surprisingly, these chapters are also the most dated. A university degree is one of the biggest sources of debt for people these days, and is no guarantee of a good job.

Another warning - from about the halfway point this book becomes extremely America-centric. Readers from other countries won’t get much value from detailed reading but a skim-read might prompt some thoughts about questions to ask about tax, insurance and retirement regulations at home.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall concepts here can be helpful. Specifics are also offered- it is important to show specific examples and not let the reader assume anything as sometimes investing is too complex to speak of in broad terms. I appreciated that they show how to take action on a specific and attainable portfolio setup (and don't just say to invest in real estate).

This would not be my end all be all for investing reading, but honestly it could be for someone who is looking to follow a specific plan and limit their risk.

"An index fund can be run by a ham sandwich" - yeah, I should have known that this was written by THAT Ben Stein when I read that. The sarcasm in the "How Not To Invest" chapter alone made this worth the read.

[Mark Paul McGoniagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a good book on properly managing a portfolio, and this one was very fulfilling. Ben and Phil were able to break everything down into easy bite sized pieces for the masses. But, in a way of sarcasm that let you know you (or at least I) have been doing it all wrong. Safety nets, safety nets, safety nets.... Get your financial Kevlar on and learn how to properly be old, whichever way your path may be leading you.

[Kevin Demel]

The web site is no longer active but the advice is still good. I would recommend this book to anyone investing for the long term. One should be able to set up their account and with minimal work keep investing over the long term and get good results.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is best book in investing for most us. Those without special talents can absorb the material, if one can apply the material your account will thank you.

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very poor attempt to repackage something like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which in itself was an aweful book to finish.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid advice on some parts, but I feel it missed the mark on others. Only a few notes scribbled down would be needed to have the helpful bits handy. Definitely don't need the entire book.

[Kimberly Massengale · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was only ok.

[Thomas Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3

[Stephanie Sweet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little over my head, need paper and pen to take notes as I go, going to reread!

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stein's book is a very basic, American-centric, traditional guide. You won't fall into any pitfalls by following this advice, but neither will you maximise your potential. It follows the standard advice: go to a good university, get a financially rewarding career, work hard and save for your whole life so that you can withdraw a reasonable pension when you're unable to continue working. Put your money into broad market funds with low fees regularly and don't try to time the market. That's about it.