All About Index Funds: The Easy Way to Get Started (All About Series)

After reading most of the available books on index funds, and many of them give both the reasoning for, and the advantages of, investing in such funds, I believe this latest one is the best of the bunch. It provides not only the various powerful arguments for such investing, but also suggests specific portfolios of index funds for different classes of investors.Although each investor has his or her own individual situation, which must be carefully analyzed before any investment plan is generated or changed, Ferri's book is a good guide toward making the best choices.After studying the various investment choices available to the individual investor, I have concluded that unless the investor has some really specific and unique knowledge of any particular company, or possiby industry, investing in individual stocks or bonds can be highly speculative. Investing in mutual funds provides some degree of diversification, but most managed (not index) funds show a long term return which is significantly less than that of index funds, and those few managed funds that have "beaten the average" in the past, generally do not continue to do so. Moreover, the 1% or more of expense ratio of managed funds takes a really big bite over time when the compounding interest effect is taken into account.

I value Richard Ferri's books and this one is no exception. While the writing is easy to grasp, it is most complete. The book covers just about everything you need to know to master investing in index funds or ETFs.Although the book is not about allocation (Ferri has a great book on that subject), it does discuss it. He shows how to actually cut risk by using a more aggressive approach.I found the history of index funds most interesting. But I also appreciated the discussion of tax advantage in indexing, the different benchmarks, bonds and commodities.This book can make you money if you read it, study it and apply it to your own investing. The more you know about and understand index funds and their close kin, ETFs, the better able you will be to profit by using them.Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book as it provided good all round coverage on the topic. It starts you off with a concise overview and then straight into a history lesson, moving on into the tax advantages and why this occurs before covering off the types of Index funds and ETF's and how to invest. The only slight criticism is that in the fast moving world of Index funds and ETF's this edition is now 4 years old and in some areas it shows. I would probably advise checking out other books on this topic that are more up to date especially with information on how Index funds and ETF's performed after the 2007/2008 bear market.

I love Richard Ferri's books. This is one of them.If you are clueless about financial investment and want to get started on it, then read this book. Also recommended are All about Index Funds, Serious Money, and The ETF Book. Unlike books that promote sales pitch and sell garbages like (IBD: Investor's Business Daily or even Wall Street Journal) Ferri provides sound studies done on investment strategies, sound strategies, expectation and mindset.However it does not cover all the story. You still need to understand our debt-based economic structure and fractional banking monetary system to avoid heavy losses during severe recession or depression. I recommend  The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve  and  Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Lynn Sonberg Books)  for that.

Takes the individual investor through the gambit on index funds, with solid information that is genuinely useful, whether you're investing in an IRA or a cash account. Will also help you in selecting the appropriate investments for your 401K. As with all minimally speculative investing, returns grow over time. If you're interested in high return, overnight strategies, this is not for you. Conversely, if you wish to follow Warren Buffet's advice (he strongly feels index funds are an ideal investment - especially for the individual), you should read this. I strongly recommend this to anyone who has 10+ years of investing - whether in a retirement plan or a taxable plan.

I have been doing a self-study on investing topics this year and previously read several books on indexing by Jack Bogle [my hero, and an erudite writer], and Morningstar's Christine Benz [Clear and concise], but I think this is my favorite. Ferri is laser sharp in explaining investing concepts, and reads like you are learning one-on-one from an excellent business school professor. I bought this book because I had already read his also excellent book on asset allocation. This would be a perfect book if it was better edited. The text and content is fine but there are typos, repeated words, etc. Ferri's work deserves better, but I still very highly recommend the book.

Excellent book but needs another updating as more diverse types of index funds have become available since its last update.

A bit repetitive but gives great examples and is a good reference for investing.

Great book to gather an understanding of index tracker funds

excellent .