New Book - Early Bird: the Power of Investing Young

[woodtrain]

A new book for young investors, by a young investor. Most is old hat for folks on this board, but could be a good present for younger folks getting started, who could be more receptive to the long term investing message when coming from someone closer to their age.

http://compoundingsnowballs.blogspot.com/2017/11/early-bird-power-of-investing-young.html

Investing takes time, so why are the people with the most time not investing? That needs to change. This is the issue Early Bird is here to solve. Early Bird teaches young investors what goes into a good company, if they’re ethical, what numbers to look for, how to open an account, which company has the competitive advantage, and more. This book gives readers easy to follow directions so they can do it on their own, without influencing any particular company. Early Bird inspires us with innovators and leaders in the industry from a young person's perspective.

[colin]

Perhaps there are better things to do with one's money when we are young fit and full of energy, why send cash into the distant future to a person who can only sit and watch the world go by?

[BarrenWuffett]

Errr.. is it OK to plug your book on this forum??

[woodtrain]

@Colin - why not do both

@Barren - I don't know, but its not mine. Find me another book by a young investor for young investors who can compound over decades and I will plug that one too - LOL

https://twitter.com/IntrinsicInv/status/935309810723045376

[forrado]

No need for more books going over the same ground.

Find me another book by a young investor for young investors who can compound over decades and I will plug that one too - LOL

Don’t be bothered plugging anything to young people about money they haven’t yet got, delayed gratification being a concept completely alien to them. Instead, I’d make it compulsory for children to be taught and demonstrated the Rule of 72 and its compounding variants in maths classes alongside that of Pythagoras's theorem. That's the only way there's a chance of it sinking at a young age rather than from the dry sterile pages of a book.

The Rule of 72 is just as relevant today as it was to 16th Century Venetian merchants when first published in 1494 amongst the pages of the “Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita” (Summary of arithmetic, geometry, proportions and proportionality) written by Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli considered to be the father of modern day accounting and bookkeeping.

Which just goes to show there’s really nothing new under the financial sun, in some form or other, it’s all been covered before. Even Albert Einstein acknowledged the Rule of 72 and the writings of Luca Pacioli when reportedly saying "He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it. Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe."

[Wmnr]

Don’t be bothered plugging anything to young people about money they haven’t yet got, delayed gratification being a concept completely alien to them.

That's what I thought, but then my wife pointed out that the marshmallow test carried out over a number of years suggests the opposite is true


https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/09/20/ch ... nerations/

[colin]

it is better to invest in experiences when we are young so we can have memories when we are old, that's the stuff life is made of.

[BusyBumbleBee]

Don’t be bothered plugging anything to young people about money they haven’t yet got, delayed gratification being a concept completely alien to them.

Frankly that is not true. I am regularly (not frequently) approached by young people (15-18 year olds) about investing**. Furthermore my 12 to 14 year old grandchildren are also interested. More so than their parents. So much so that I am planning that they should manage my investments when I go gaga.

It is great to belittle the younger generations and maybe comments like this apply to the majority but there is a significant number of youngsters who have the ability and tenacity to make good investors. Furthermore, many that I know and have known over the years are prepared to do work in the full knowledge that they personally will not benefit from the work they do but they do it for their successors. This is particularly true of play areas where the teens of today raise good money even though they will never actually use the equipment they have worked so hard to get because each project takes several years to bring to fruition and they are off at university before it comes into use. In this instance it is not even delayed gratification but gratification for the community they are part of.

** they will get this book as a Christmas present from me.

[will89]

Investing has been my main 'hobby' since early teens, be it stocks, property, crypto, p2p or something else. At 28 now it's definitely made me the person that I am, and affected the way I look at the world. It's even made me decide I definitely wouldn't want to go and live in London and get a job related to finance!

It's a bit of a cliche, but you can do much worse than reading 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', but you've got to want to learn, and most people don't want to! Even at almost 30, I'm the only one of my friends (most of which are friends from a top 5 UK uni), that cares remotely about investing. Admittedly, some don't have money to invest, but my other favourite hobby is reducing costs and getting good value, which many don't seem to care about either!

[forrado]

Even at almost 30, I'm the only one of my friends (most of which are friends from a top 5 UK uni), that cares remotely about investing. Admittedly, some don't have money to invest, but my other favourite hobby is reducing costs and getting good value, which many don't seem to care about either!

At last! A millennial who speaks truth to his generation.

[BusyBumbleBee]

but my other favourite hobby is reducing costs and getting good value, which many don't seem to care about either!

Well said, Will89, Do you ever look at 'Living Below Your Means'?' viewforum.php?f=14 which sadly is not as lively as it was on the Motley Fool. Needs some younger blood there - not just old codgers like myself. It was always about value not cheapness.

[minerjoe]

I started investing in my early 20's - crappy investments, punts you know the sort of thing. I knew it was a good idea but I had very little structure or clue.

somewhere in my mid 20's I read the book "Get Rich with Dividends" (http://getrichwithdividends.com/ - for those who might be interested). This is what changed my overall investment strategy and view on financial life. Now I have an ISA sheltered share portfolio of just under £100k and I am in my early 30's. Its not going to change my world tomorrow, but in 15 to 20 years time, with more investment and careful nurturing should offer me financial freedoms that no other asset class can.

I think the best thing people could do young is have parents put some money in a cheap FTSE dividend tracker inside a child ISA wrapper. As I will be doing for my children.