The Future for Investors

Why the Tried and the True Triumph Over the Bold and the New

By: Jeremy J. Siegel

Narrated by: James Lurie

The new paradigm for investing and building wealth in the twenty-first century. The Future for Investors reveals new strategies that take advantage of the dramatic changes and opportunities that will appear in world markets.

Jeremy Siegel, one of the world’s top investing experts, has taken a long, hard, and in-depth look at the market and the stocks that investors should acquire to build long-term wealth. His surprising finding is that the new technologies, expanding industries, and fast-growing countries that stockholders relentlessly seek in the market often lead to poor returns. In fact, growth itself can be an investment trap, luring investors into overpriced stocks and overly competitive industries. The Future for Investors shatters conventional wisdom and provides a framework for picking stocks that will be long-term winners. While technological innovation spurs economic growth, it has not been kind to investors. Instead, companies that have marketed tried-and-true products for decades in slow-growth or even declining industries have superior returns to firms that develop “the bold and the new.” Industry sectors many regard as dinosaurs—railroads and oil companies, for example—have actually beat the market.

Professor Siegel presents these strategies within the context of the coming shift in global economic power and the demographic age wave that will sweep the United States, Europe, and Japan. Contrary to the popular belief that these economic and demographic trends doom investors to poor returns, Professor Siegel explains the True New Economy and how to take advantage of the coming surge in invention, discovery, and economic growth. The faster the world changes, the more important it is for investors to heed the lessons of the past and find the tried-and-true companies that can help you beat the market and prosper in the years ahead.

©2005 Jeremy J. Siegel (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Jeremy Siegel has done us a great service with his superb work. While no one can predict the future of stocks with certainty, Siegel’s analysis marks the verdict of history: the triumph of the shareholder over the shareflipper, the investor over the speculator, the builder over the gambler. Strong conclusions, good writing, and a refreshing message make this a compelling and important book to read.” —Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last

“Jeremy Siegel’s lively new book is much more than a typical Siegelian guide to asset allocation. It is a masterful, provocative, fact-stuffed, commonsense, and creative guide to profitable stock-picking strategies. Even the most cynical and experienced investors will gain from reading Siegel’s latest contribution to their well-being.” —Peter L. Bernstein, author of Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk“

“The professor who taught America to love stocks in the 1990s is as optimistic as ever. But he’s added a new twist to his theory: Get dividends.” —Money magazine, December 2004

Must read/listen investment book

Jeremy Siegel does it again with this great book! He adddresses two issues: 1) Growth Trap and how to avoid it. 2) Effect of aging population in US and other developed nations, it's effect on future returns on investment and solutions. He addresses both of issues with great depth and research.

Must read/listen!

A little to harsh on growth

I did enjoy this book. Jeremy offered some good insights on why he believes the tried and true is better than the new. In many ways I agree with him. However he veers too far to the conservative in this book with his repetitive statements that investing in growth is not the way to profit. Growth stocks shouldn't be your entire portfolio, but nor should they be avoided in my opinion.

Still, a decent book, even if he does tend to repeat things a bit.

Excellent Book

I enjoyed this book. It is worth reading!

US Large Cap Value

The basic message of this book: US Large Cap Value stocks w. dividends are the investments to park money to create long-term wealth. The book supports why this is so and will continue to be so even as the Chinese economy grows AND the US economy levels off.