Stock Books to read

A few Books to Start with before you buy a stock

There are so many books and so much information on the stock market that it is hard to know where to start. So many questions: should you buy individual stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, or a traditional index fund? Even if you ask the professionals, they may be biased to steer you in a way that makes them money off fees and commissions that will affect your long-term profits. Before you start investing, or if you already have been investing, I recommend you read "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel. It is an easy read that will get you started with easy info on buying individual stocks that may come with more risk/reward, or you might be more into ETFs or the traditional index fund that is more set up to contribute once a month and never sell. It gives you examples of events in the stock market and how to stay the course psychologically. It is not a self-help book. After you read that, then read "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing 10th Anniversary Edition" by John C. Bogle. It is a book on investing in the traditional index fund (TIF) with reinvesting the dividends and never selling. It makes good points and uses examples of how you should invest in a TIF over individual stocks. Or at the very least, use a traditional index fund as your base and have a few stocks with it. Highly recommend reading them back to back: "The Psychology of Money" first, then "The Little Book." Both are easier reads rather than starting with some other advanced stock books.