Investing Success

Each year, it seems reams of page are published on the subject of investing. Many are forgettable and some should absolutely be avoided. But a friend told me to check this book out and I was pleasantly surprised. Lynnette Khalfani is a former reporter for "The Wall Street Journal" and CNBC. To her credit, she keeps the chapters short and to the point and ends each with what she refers to as a "$ummary $uccess $tory." The book is clear, concise, and east to read and follow. Khalfani essentially notes that mistakes made by people in investing are fairly common to the majority of investors. She divides the book into five sections: strategizing your goals, buying, holding, selling, and dealing with investment intermediaries such as stock brokers. She has an easy-to-read, friendly style of writing. The advice is basic, and more sophisticated investors will consider as remedial or average, at best, but for anyone who knows little about investing, it's a great starting point.Her advice is solid throughout, and the piece of advice she considers most important is particularly good: Don't invest prematurely. By that she means you should have a stash of three-to-six months of expenses, a will, and disability insurance before you dive into investing. If you are new to investing, read this book first, you'll be glad you did.

Knowledgeably written for the non-specialist general reader by a veteran financial news journalist Lynnette Khalfani, Investing Success: How To Conquer 30 Costly Mistakes & Multiply Your Wealth! is a very practical guide to avoiding common mistakes in financial matters, ranging from investing prematurely; to relying too much on "inside" information; to lack of true diversification; to fiscal overconfidence; to failing to acknowledge mistakes; to neglecting to check the background of one's broker or financial planner, and more. Investing Success is commended as being a vital and fiscally savvy resource for learning from the mishaps of others before one's hard-earned life savings are on the line.

Investing Success inspired me to kick start 2004...and to develop a strategy for investing. The book is sophisticated enough to be helpful, concise and well written. The examples Summery Success Strategies at the end of each chapter help me stay focused and on track. Finally, a book that tells you what to do and how to clean up the mess if you've made mistakes.

There are so many books which offer advice on investments and this is one of the best. At the outset, I presume to share some lessons I have learned over the years which seem relevant to Khalfani's suggestions as to how to "conquer 30 costly mistakes and multiply your wealth." First, the importance of systematic savings. Next, the importance of compounded interest on what we save. Finally, the importance of having a realistic plan for increasing one's net worth through systematic savings and the compound interest accumulated by it. Unless and until an individual investor fully appreciates the importance of the first two and then commits to the third, costly mistakes will be made with inevitable (but avoidable) results.Khalfani organizes her material within five Parts: Strategic Slip-Ups, Buying Blunders, Holding/Monitoring Mishaps, Selling Snafus, and Financial Advisor Foul-Ups. Although each seems to focus on mistakes of judgment, she explains how to avoid the don'ts by doing their opposite. Whereas unsuccessful investors focus on products, successful investors focus on the process of investing. For example, they* Set specific, measurable, and realistic investment goals (Chapter 1)* Do not have concentrated wealth (Chapter 9)* Monitor your investment frequently and rigorously (Chapter 13)* Have a sell strategy (Chapter 17)* Take full advantage of all available independent research (Chapter 25)My guess (only a guess) is that this book will not be of substantial value to sophisticated investors. They and their financial advisors probably know which "costly mistakes" to avoid and how to avoid them. For so many others, however, I think that Khalfani's book will provide the guidance they need to achieve greater success with their investments than would otherwise be possible. As she explains, the investment process involves five distinct phases: strategizing to identify and then meet personal goals, buying the right (i.e. most appropriate) investments, holding and carefully monitoring those investments, selling investments in a judicious and prudent manner, and dealing effectively with intermediaries such as stockbrokers and financial planners. Basic stuff? Yes, of course, but so many private investors are either unaware of this process or (for whatever reasons) lose patience with it. It remains for each of us to determine what "wealth" means. More to the point, it is our responsibility, indeed our obligation to protect and preserve whatever resources we may have, investing them wherever and whenever most appropriate. If you are among those in need of expert guidance when making such investment decisions, Khalfani's book can be of substantial assistance. However, as she correctly insists, you must first understand the process...and then invest as much of your time and energy may be required before you make investment decisions.