The Investors Manifesto

Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between

By: William Bernstein

Narrated by: Scott Peterson

As recently as a generation or two ago, the lack of financial ability wasn't a handicap for the average person. But in today's world - where most of us have been forced to manage our own investment and retirement portfolios - it has become essential to understand the finer points of our financial life.

While the meltdown of 2008 - 2009 has compounded the complexity of the investment landscape, timeless investment principles can help you navigate even the toughest investment terrain.

That's why best-selling author William Bernstein - a grassroots hero to independent investors - has written The Investor's Manifesto. Approaching the problems of investing and saving from the perspective of someone who has had to figure it out for himself, Bernstein knows firsthand how difficult these endeavors can be - especially for those with little professional experience in this arena. Now, with the current market maelstrom as a backdrop, he skillfully describes what it takes to plan for a lifetime of investing, discussing stocks and bonds as well as the relationship between risk and return.

Potentially generous returns are available to the brave, the disciplined, and the liquid. If you follow the advice found here and keep your head while others lose theirs, then you will have a fighting chance of avoiding the financial pitfalls in front of you and profiting over the long-term.

©2009 William Bernstein (P)2009 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Bill Bernstein's impassioned new audio book is indeed a manifesto - a call to action for Main Street investors to free themselves from exploitation by Wall Street money moguls; to understand the brute principles that ultimately determine stock market returns; and to establish the sound and simple strategies necessary for investment success. The Investor's Manifesto is a grand-slam home run." (John C. Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Step up from basic education

Might be too heavy for anyone brand new to exploring personal finance, but for someone who has a book or two under their belt this is a great next step into the theory behind investing. Complementary to more foundational books like his ‘If you can’ which is a short intro to wet your palate for caring as much about your financial future as you need to in order to succeed

A very good book

There's a lot to learn from this book, and it is well served.
Thank you

Good Book for Investing Amateurs

This is the most in depth investment education book I have read so far. I enjoyed it but if you are a market newbie you may lose your retention within the book due to more complicated concepts.

Concentrated financial brilliance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! Every investor should understand the objective science and history of the market to better prevent getting fleeced by poor performance, unnecessary risk, or commission obsessed agents. Bernstein condenses 3rd party academic research of the market's history into one book. No fantasy get rich quick gimmicks or cheer leading to encourage the reader to find the motivation to actualize their potential. This book is somber by comparison, dousing the dreamer with cold buckets of reality. But to the pragmatic investor, this book empowers one to remove unnecessary taxes, commissions, and risks from their finances and offers the best guidance toward the real goal of not outliving one's money.

Very helpful lessons

Overall a very helpful audiobook but I feel that supplementing it with a print copy to better understand the graphics would help.

What the ?????

Should I get an adviser or not?????
Starts out we're all incapable, finishes with don't trust anyone. Great instructions but Bill makes it sound like we can't pull it off. he may be right.

Excellent book with annoying audio translation

Highly recommend this book for beginning investors, however would not recommend audio version as there were multiple instances of the narrator reading lists of EVERY individual stock/bond etc. which are meant to be glossed over as a reference. Would give 5 stars if included PDFs of charts which narrator can then reference.

Great book, needs pdf files for some stuff.

What made the experience of listening to The Investors Manifesto the most enjoyable?

I reviewed his other book, the Four Pillars of Investing, so I will be brief here. Covers a lot of material that will help most, if not all, investors. Gets specific about portfolio design and asset allocation for different type of investors which is critical and very helpful. Although I still don't understand his short term bond allocation investments for long term investors, even after listening to this book twice. Jack Bogle and others often recommend intermediate bond allocation but there is no absolute strategy that we know for sure will work for future markets.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dr. Bernstein of course, great sense of humor and smart.

What does Scott Peterson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He fulfilled his role, didn't distract me from concentrating on the dense material. Many times find his voice very soothing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No really, great book overall.

Any additional comments?

There are countless indexes, bonds, REIT's etc listed in this audiobook as well as charts, graphs, and portfolio allocations. I knocked a half a star off this audiobook for not supplying some supplemental pdf files with this info. For example, Tony Robbins MONEY Master the Game audiobook provides, for no extra cost, 40 pdf files of charts and the alike to compliment his audio book. I would pay extra for these type of files if offered. So listen up future audiobook writers and producers. hope this helped.

Best investing book ever.

Focused, insightful, and incredibly helpful book filled with strategy, perspective, and helpful tactical ideas you can deploy.

Great, Insightful and yet Easy to Understand

The author did a fantastic job of getting in to as much detail as anyone could want while at the same time putting extreme detail into indexes and explaining finance and investing in a way that anyone could understand