The Simple Path to Wealth by Jim Collins

The author of the book advocates a self-directed approach to investing and money management. In short, it tells you to avoid debts, save half of your income, invest your savings in low-cost index funds and ignore the news about the up and down of the stock market.

In the book, you will learn that the investment industry is interested in making you feel that the whole investment process is complex. For this reason, you would need help to be successful in the stock market and your only solution is to go for those advisers that, without you knowing, will earn money for themselves at your expenses.

The book also offers specific recommendations for self-directed investing, and carefully explains the rationale behind his conclusions. He also translates studies and stats into easy-to-understand English.

The only thing that the author said that an investor needs to do is to invest in the following two funds:

• VTSAX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
• VBTLX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

With these two funds, we are basically covered and the more we invest in it, the better. However, to invest in both of the above funds, big capital is needed. So, the author provided an alternative which is the equivalent ETF:

• VTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
• BND - Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

It is possible for us to invest in both ETF but there will be more works that need to be done before we are able to buy it. I have a bit of experience in this and will share what I know in the near future.

Other information given may not be suitable for us, Malaysian. Stuff such as 401K, Roth and Malaysian low-cost index fund does not really exist in Malaysia. But still, it is a very good read to understand that investing can actually be very simple.

Personally, I have learned a lot from reading this book and my investment strategy is mainly based on the author's concepts of investing but with a tweak to suit our Malaysian market. If you are interested to read this book, you can buy it here.

12 Personal Finance Books for a Year

If you know me in person, you would know that I am a bookworm. I read lots of books. Fortunately, I have migrated to ebooks. Otherwise, I would not have enough place at home to put those books that I want to read.

Nevertheless, I would like to share 12 books related to personal finance that I believe will help us to be more financially intelligent. I have read 8 of them while the balance 4 is highly valued by others. Of course, I will be reading them too when I have a chance.

Without further ado, please find these 12 books as below:

1. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko (Eyes opening)
2. Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
3. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason (love this book)
4. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton (love this book)
5. The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley
6. More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey
7. The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins (this is my favourite book)
8. The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
9. The Little Book of Value Investing by Christopher Browne
10. Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
11. The Compound Effect By Darren Hardy
12. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (My first personal finance book)

Have you read these books? What is your comments?

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

Do you know what a real millionaire looks like?

Do you think a millionaire stay in a very big mansion, driving the latest sports car, wear the most expensive suits and went on holiday every weekend?

Well, think again. Only a  very small percentage of the real millionaire actually do all the above. But for the majority, they are nothing like that at all.

In fact, most of the real millionaires are just like us. They drive an average car and stay in an average house. They do what most of us are doing on daily basis.

There are some differences though, in term of their practice. For one, these millionaires live below their means. They budget their money accordingly and even if they got a windfall, they would still maintain their lifestyle like nothing changed. 

Even if you don't want to be a millionaire, you can still learn a thing or two just by reading this book.

You can get it here.

Book - Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days

In a time when everything is getting more and more expensive, our monthly paycheck is hardly enough to cover all our daily expenses. Just to make ends meet, we have to find ways to earn more money. 

This is where side hustle comes in.

Side Hustle is things that we do that would bring us some extra money without getting in the way of our daily job. 

It may sound easy but many have tried and failed. So, the author of The $100 Startup and The Art of Nonconformity, has taken the task to write this new book, Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days. This book complements Chris' very popular podcast, Side Hustle School. The daily podcast aims to inspire others to take the leap and start their own side hustle. 

The great thing about Chris is how practical he is. I guess he has the idea that the more he helps others, the more he help himself.

Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days will take you on a step by step process of building a profitable side hustle, from brainstorming to implementation. While I think the 27 days are possible, some people may need to take a longer period of time to get things going. Nevertheless, with a step by step guide, I do felt that things would be a lot easier than starting from scratch without knowing where to go.

You can order the book here.