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Warren Buffett's Three Favorite Books
This book IS: Completely interactive with over 10 hours of video content. A starting point for amateur and intermediate investors to finally understand the content found in The Intelligent Investor, Security Analysis, and the Wealth of Nations. Easy to understand, yet covers complex topics for stocks, bonds, and preferred shares. Did you know Warren Buffett, the world's wealthiest stock investor, is quoted as saying three books have shaped his investment philosophy? For more than half a century, he used the information provided in these three books to go from nothing - to a massive $39 billion net worth. The three books that gave him this wisdom are: The Wealth of Nations (pub. 1776) by Adam Smith, Security Analysis (pub. 1934) by Benjamin Graham, and The Intelligent Investor (pub. 1949), also by Benjamin Graham. In fact, Benjamin Graham was Buffett's professor at Columbia and the most influential financial advisor he ever had. So, have you ever tried reading Graham's books? Many might agree the books are as exciting as listening to Ben Stein read the 30th page of The Wall Street Journal. It is time we fixed that. Instead of keeping these billion-dollar secrets hidden behind thousands of pages of financial jargon, I wrote one simple guide - Warren Buffett's Three Favorite Books. If you're looking for a guide that explains how the wealthy really think and buy assets, you're in the right place. This isn't a get-rich-quick book. Instead, this is where your investing techniques take a turn in the road. This book will teach you how to accumulate assets and become very wealthy over decades of wise decisions and proper asset valuation. The best part about the book is the methods are taught in an easy-to-follow and understandable scenario for all to enjoy!
182 pages, Paperback
First published May 23, 2012
1635 people are currently reading
1025 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
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November 13, 2012First, a disclaimer, I only read the free sample available for Kindle. Second, I read that little because it was more than enough to realize that this book desperately needs a good editor.
I work in the investments industry and am always looking for simple books written for the average person. I cannot recommend this book to my clients.
…Or recommend any book that can't even be bothered to correctly attribute trademarks. For example, "velcro shoes". Velcro is a company and should be capitalized. Shoes that had hook and loop fasteners instead of laces were not made by Velcro, the company, and had some other brand of fasteners. Yes, this is a huge pet peeve of mine, but when there’s laziness in editing, it will prevail throughout the book. Such trademark violations mixed with the grammatical mistakes in those sample chapters make me suspect of anything and everything else presented within these pages.
I work in the investments industry and am always looking for simple books written for the average person. I cannot recommend this book to my clients.
…Or recommend any book that can't even be bothered to correctly attribute trademarks. For example, "velcro shoes". Velcro is a company and should be capitalized. Shoes that had hook and loop fasteners instead of laces were not made by Velcro, the company, and had some other brand of fasteners. Yes, this is a huge pet peeve of mine, but when there’s laziness in editing, it will prevail throughout the book. Such trademark violations mixed with the grammatical mistakes in those sample chapters make me suspect of anything and everything else presented within these pages.
March 23, 2024
Really good beginner level book specially if the reader is a noob to finance(like me). The examples are real basic and explain complex concepts without additional jargon. The author has a real knack for teaching and is able to explain complex financial stuff by simplifying into personal situations where companies are treated as individual people with an Income, Profit, Assets and Liabilities. This approach works really well and one is able to immediately relate to the basic ideas hidden behind all the complexity. A small caveat - the author also has a free video course which is really great but some chapters do end with the advice to look at the video course for more in-depth content, which is a minor personal inconvenience. A more systematic approach could have been to add that additional content to the book itself.
February 28, 2017
Adults, go straight to the Accounting book (#2 in this series). Covers everything covered in this book but with better style and at a more appropriate level of detail. I read this because I thought I could give it to my kids ahead of the Berkshire meeting this year, but this book isn't tailored well for kids either (Part 1 alone could be).
December 18, 2014
A pretty comprehensive introduction to investing, with great guiding principles. Pysh is clearly passionate in the success of his readers as he provides them with various practical tools.
July 18, 2019
Surprisingly quite decent, the first half I found myself skimming the children analogies (although still important in understanding certain fundamentals of investing) but the second half was where the real meat of the book was for someone not totally new to investing.
This would be an excellent beginner book to the world of investing but I found great value in it myself (still very much a beginner myself but I have read somewhat upon it through the years).
The author has a knack for simplifying complicated investing concepts into easily digesting chapters. This was refreshing from the usual finance articles I've perused!
I do wish there was a a short summary of notes of all formulates and principles used but perhaps that will serve as motivation to take some notes.
I'd give it 3.5 stars namely due to the title for those already well-read with investing and easily 4.5 stars for a beginner new to investing so a nice 4 stars compromise for me!
This would be an excellent beginner book to the world of investing but I found great value in it myself (still very much a beginner myself but I have read somewhat upon it through the years).
The author has a knack for simplifying complicated investing concepts into easily digesting chapters. This was refreshing from the usual finance articles I've perused!
I do wish there was a a short summary of notes of all formulates and principles used but perhaps that will serve as motivation to take some notes.
I'd give it 3.5 stars namely due to the title for those already well-read with investing and easily 4.5 stars for a beginner new to investing so a nice 4 stars compromise for me!
April 11, 2020
Great book for beginners, also great video tutorials that go along with this book.
January 14, 2014
This is definitely not one of my three favourite books.
Reading good books on investing is one of the best ways to learn the craft, and as an equities analyst, I am always on the lookout for hidden gems. Unfortunately this is neither a good book nor a hidden gem.
Pysh writes surprisingly little of Buffet's 'three favourite books' (The Wealth of Nations, Security Analysis, and The Intelligent Investor), instead opting for an over-simplified and desperately wanting crash course in investing basics. The cynical title promises a concise summary of three hard-to-read but valuable classics and instead offers anecdotal waffling and questionable opinions backed up by cursory research.
This book might have been good if it had a different editor and a different writer, and if it gave different lessons in a different way.
It was mercifully short though.
Reading good books on investing is one of the best ways to learn the craft, and as an equities analyst, I am always on the lookout for hidden gems. Unfortunately this is neither a good book nor a hidden gem.
Pysh writes surprisingly little of Buffet's 'three favourite books' (The Wealth of Nations, Security Analysis, and The Intelligent Investor), instead opting for an over-simplified and desperately wanting crash course in investing basics. The cynical title promises a concise summary of three hard-to-read but valuable classics and instead offers anecdotal waffling and questionable opinions backed up by cursory research.
This book might have been good if it had a different editor and a different writer, and if it gave different lessons in a different way.
It was mercifully short though.
February 10, 2018
Lovely first part to get you interested in the topic with an easy to read story.
Comprehensive second part with lot of formulas focused on bonds and stocks.
Interesting third part with short introductions to additional investment opportunities.
I'm hooked, and look forward to applying all knowledge learnt through this book, thanks for writing it Mr Pysh!
Comprehensive second part with lot of formulas focused on bonds and stocks.
Interesting third part with short introductions to additional investment opportunities.
I'm hooked, and look forward to applying all knowledge learnt through this book, thanks for writing it Mr Pysh!
August 30, 2014
Great investing book
This book not only explains what to look for but also when to do it, and it achieves its objective using understandable language. Great work!Hope the author keeps writing this way.
This book not only explains what to look for but also when to do it, and it achieves its objective using understandable language. Great work!Hope the author keeps writing this way.
September 29, 2015
I would recommend this to people who know absolutely nothing about finance. If you've had even one college finance course and remember anything at all, this book is too basic for you.
June 28, 2017
How to invest like Warren Buffet?
Fun,simple to follow I learn and understand the principals to become a Pro!!! Thank you for you're book,I'm Happy to been reading this!!
Fun,simple to follow I learn and understand the principals to become a Pro!!! Thank you for you're book,I'm Happy to been reading this!!
May 28, 2023
I have been in real estate investing for the last 15 years and have bought apartment buildings ranging from 12-28 units and joint venture deals as large as 72 units.
I don’t have to work a 9-5 job.
I say all this not to brag but to give some credibility to my opinion.
And in my opinion, this book should be required reading for everyone…I can’t tell you how amazing this book is if you are interested in making money.
Even if you are interested in other areas of investing, as i am, you should read this book….and especially if you are raising capital from other people bc you understand the choices out there to investors who actually have money and it will make you understand your own business or sector or vertical better.
It also pinpoints exactly how you should think about personal finances and gives you a investor frame work to start investing your excess cash, even if it’s $500.
Yes there are grammatical and spelling errors but this book is excellent and if anyone who says otherwise is an idiot or just being a tool.
And what sealed the deal for me is his analysis of companies from 2012…bc that’s when the book was being written…and you can look at those same stocks 11 years later and see if his analysis was accurate.
So i don’t know how anyone could say this book isn’t absolute gold.
I don’t have to work a 9-5 job.
I say all this not to brag but to give some credibility to my opinion.
And in my opinion, this book should be required reading for everyone…I can’t tell you how amazing this book is if you are interested in making money.
Even if you are interested in other areas of investing, as i am, you should read this book….and especially if you are raising capital from other people bc you understand the choices out there to investors who actually have money and it will make you understand your own business or sector or vertical better.
It also pinpoints exactly how you should think about personal finances and gives you a investor frame work to start investing your excess cash, even if it’s $500.
Yes there are grammatical and spelling errors but this book is excellent and if anyone who says otherwise is an idiot or just being a tool.
And what sealed the deal for me is his analysis of companies from 2012…bc that’s when the book was being written…and you can look at those same stocks 11 years later and see if his analysis was accurate.
So i don’t know how anyone could say this book isn’t absolute gold.
May 11, 2021
This book is aimed at investing beginners who may be uncertain of their math skills. It does a cursory overview of bonds and stocks, then goes into fundamental analysis tools.
There were good nuggets in this book, and it was easy to work through. I do wish that it had provided the equations behind the math, and defined the variables in the equations. I found myself trying to work through the equations and coming up short, because I was missing something. I do also wish that the book had been more thoroughly edited. It is rife with spelling errors.
That said, I appreciate that the author lays out four key rules to remember, a series of steps to follow, and recommendations for further reading. I did like this book enough to pick up a few of his recommended books - it's a good, quick springboard for further reading.
There were good nuggets in this book, and it was easy to work through. I do wish that it had provided the equations behind the math, and defined the variables in the equations. I found myself trying to work through the equations and coming up short, because I was missing something. I do also wish that the book had been more thoroughly edited. It is rife with spelling errors.
That said, I appreciate that the author lays out four key rules to remember, a series of steps to follow, and recommendations for further reading. I did like this book enough to pick up a few of his recommended books - it's a good, quick springboard for further reading.
April 28, 2022
This book is an super easy read if you have some basic equity investment experience.
The first 4 chapters may seem unnecessary for a person with rudimentary (or more) investment experience. Skip it or skim over it.
The remaining part of the book is a great read. If nothing else it refreshes the importance of a lot of concepts and puts them in context.
What differentiates this book from other investment books is that it provides practical procedures you can apply to real world stock data (not just a bunch of high flying statements that you cannot associate with real world activities). After explaining a concept the author guides you through the process again, this time using stock data that you can get off the internet (he even explains how to retrieve the data).
The first 4 chapters may seem unnecessary for a person with rudimentary (or more) investment experience. Skip it or skim over it.
The remaining part of the book is a great read. If nothing else it refreshes the importance of a lot of concepts and puts them in context.
What differentiates this book from other investment books is that it provides practical procedures you can apply to real world stock data (not just a bunch of high flying statements that you cannot associate with real world activities). After explaining a concept the author guides you through the process again, this time using stock data that you can get off the internet (he even explains how to retrieve the data).
November 23, 2017
I first heard about this book on the author’s podcast. For anyone who is remotely interested in investing in the stock/bond market should read this book. This book is easy to understand and the author dumbs it down so even beginners can understand. There is also a website that the author shares in the book that you can use to help you follow the material and he even provides calculators to help you with your stock/bond picks. This book is very informative and I’m very glad I read it. I will read it again!
March 22, 2018
Practical actionable and easy to understand
I knew many of the Buffett concept already before starting this book. But instead of feeling repetitive I felt the book made those principles easier to understand. The example of a lemonade stand at the beginning is perfect for comparing equity and bond. The end result of the book is that it makes you a much more confident investor and definitely better chance of being a successful one if you apply the principles in the book.
I knew many of the Buffett concept already before starting this book. But instead of feeling repetitive I felt the book made those principles easier to understand. The example of a lemonade stand at the beginning is perfect for comparing equity and bond. The end result of the book is that it makes you a much more confident investor and definitely better chance of being a successful one if you apply the principles in the book.
July 20, 2018
I'm more of a visional learner myself so when I found out about the free videos on Youtube I watched all of them first. Then once I got the book it was just a great quick review with some concepts that were covered more in-depth. Mr. Pysh had a done an amazing job in summarizing basic yet primordial investment knowledge in less than 200 pages. Looking forward to reading and buying more of his quality content.
May 6, 2019
Great Book for early investors
This book explains the investing genius Warren Buffets value investing approach. It introduces all the key fundamentals of value investing in simplest terms. I am an early investor in stock market and this book is the best place to start for anyone interested in building wealth over time. It helps you clear a lot of misconceptions about stock investing and also shows you difference between “gambling” and “investing” in stock market.
This book explains the investing genius Warren Buffets value investing approach. It introduces all the key fundamentals of value investing in simplest terms. I am an early investor in stock market and this book is the best place to start for anyone interested in building wealth over time. It helps you clear a lot of misconceptions about stock investing and also shows you difference between “gambling” and “investing” in stock market.
March 26, 2019
Huge Thanks to the Author.
... boosting your eagerness to jump into financial world , explore and learn ALL from the top to the bottom with zero confusion , tiredness and exhaustion .
.. For Anyone who thinks , that finances are too complicated and difficult to understand , This book proves you differently .
... boosting your eagerness to jump into financial world , explore and learn ALL from the top to the bottom with zero confusion , tiredness and exhaustion .
.. For Anyone who thinks , that finances are too complicated and difficult to understand , This book proves you differently .
February 22, 2020
A decent start for individual stock valuations
The concepts discussed and formulas used were certainly useful as starting points of reference. The biggest trouble with the book is that it seems to either dip below the experience level of the expected reader in its fun example narratives or shoot above an introduction to valuation protocols with its amalgamation of formulas.
The concepts discussed and formulas used were certainly useful as starting points of reference. The biggest trouble with the book is that it seems to either dip below the experience level of the expected reader in its fun example narratives or shoot above an introduction to valuation protocols with its amalgamation of formulas.
July 16, 2024
overall not a bad beginners book on investing. although it is a bit discontinuous with the three parts. overall it does give a decent overview of investing, although a little oversimplified (which could be good for beginners). most importantly, I don’t remember reading anything blatantly wrong, which is so prevalent in books like these.
November 7, 2017
Pretty good understanding of the stock market and the books he intended to summarize. I especially found helpful the difference between stocks, bonds, dividends, and how to read a corporate cash flow. Not an inspirational book, more of a nuts and bolts.
February 21, 2018
A good start
This definitely wetted my appetite for reading into and learning about investing. It does have a few math equations and a few harder terms but going back and reading helps and it is a good start.
This definitely wetted my appetite for reading into and learning about investing. It does have a few math equations and a few harder terms but going back and reading helps and it is a good start.
March 26, 2018
Precise and knowledgable.
This book is brilliant. This is great for anyone who is trying to understand the terms used in investing, techniques to invest, studying the company before investing, and long term potential of investing in equities. Precise and simple.
This book is brilliant. This is great for anyone who is trying to understand the terms used in investing, techniques to invest, studying the company before investing, and long term potential of investing in equities. Precise and simple.
December 28, 2018
A rare enjoyable technical book, I ve ever read !
An excellent book. Preston did a fantastic job at explaining complex concepts in a simple and enjoyable manner. After finishing this book, I'm more excited about learning investing. Big thank to Preston !
An excellent book. Preston did a fantastic job at explaining complex concepts in a simple and enjoyable manner. After finishing this book, I'm more excited about learning investing. Big thank to Preston !
September 13, 2019
I really enjoyed Preston's writing style. He made it really easy to read and easily laid out, and the corny jokes were appreciated. Reading this book really helped me organize much of the financial jargon that I've been reading into usable information.
January 27, 2020
To basic and a little outdated.
This book is a ok place for people who have just started learning about personal finances and investing.
Unfortunately, there are many references to online courses and tools in the author web page, some of them are outdated.
This book is a ok place for people who have just started learning about personal finances and investing.
Unfortunately, there are many references to online courses and tools in the author web page, some of them are outdated.
February 19, 2020
Great book...
I definitely do recommend this book. The way it’s written is quite insightful and yet simplistic approach. One must read this who likes to know about investing and Buffets approaches.
I definitely do recommend this book. The way it’s written is quite insightful and yet simplistic approach. One must read this who likes to know about investing and Buffets approaches.
March 17, 2020
Great start . The author has used a very simple day to day business exampple of how a business works in stock market. Explains common terms like P/E and EPS using this example. Easily understandable to someone who has no finance background.
April 20, 2020
Very informative book, everyone should read. Good for beginners
Very informative book, everyone should read. Good for beginners, in a very simple way was able to understand, thanks sir.
Very informative book, everyone should read. Good for beginners, in a very simple way was able to understand, thanks sir.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews