Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
RULE 1 Spend Like You Want to Grow Rich 5
The Hippocratic Rule of Wealth 6
Can You See the Road When You're Driving? 10
One of the Savviest Guys I Ever Met-And His View on Buying Cars 13
Careful Home Purchases 19
Millionaire Handouts 20
How Did I Become a Millionaire? 21
Looking to the Future 24
RULE 2 Use the Greatest Investment Ally You Have 27
Compound Interest-The World's Most Powerful Financial Concept 29
The Bohemian Millionaire-The Best of Historical-Based Fiction 31
Gifting Money to Yourself 34
When You Definitely Shouldn't Invest 36
How and Why Stocks Rise in Value 36
RULE 3 Small Fees Pack Big Punches 43
With Training, the Average Fifth Grader Can Take on Wall Street 44
Financial Experts Backing the Irrefutable 45
What Causes Experts to Shake Their Heads 49
When the Best Funds Turn Malignant 51
Reality Check 58
When Best Mutual Fund Lists Can Strip You Naked 61
What's Under the Hood of an Index Fund? 69
Captain America Calls for Government Action 70
Who's Arguing against Indexes? 72
RULE 4 Conquer the Enemy in the Mirror 81
When a 10 Percent Gain Isn't a 10 Percent Gain 81
Are Index Fund Investors Smarter? 86
It's Not Timing the Market That Matters; It's Time in the Market 88
On Stocks . . . What You Really Should Have Learned in School 90
Internet Madness and the Damage It Caused 96
Taking Advantage of Fear and Greed 99
Young People Should Salivate When Stocks Sputter 101
Opportunities after Chaos 103
RULE 5 Build Mountains of Money with a Responsible Portfolio 111
What Are Bonds? 112
Profiting from Panic-Stock Market Crash, 2008-2009 116
Having a Foreign Affair 118
Introducing the Couch Potato Portfolio 120
Combinations of Stocks and Bonds Can Have Powerful Returns 123
RULE 6 Sample a "Round-the-World" Ticket to Indexing 129
What's the Difference between an Index Fund and an ETF? 129
Indexing in the United States-An American Father of Triplets 135
Indexing in Canada 142
A Canadian Couch Potato Strips Down Costs 145
Indexing in Great Britain 148
Indexing in Australia-Winning with an American Weapon 151
Indexing in Singapore 153
The Next Step 157
RULE 7 No, You Don't Have to Invest on Your Own 161
Are You Wired Like a Buddha? 162
How Does the Average Index Investor Underperform the Index? 163
Intelligent Investing for Americans 165
Intelligent Investing Firms for Canadians 172
Intelligent Investing Firms for British Investors 179
Intelligent Investing Firms for Australians 183
Intelligent Investment Firms in Singapore 185
Don't Ask about Another Lover 186
RULE 8 Peek inside a Pilferer's Playbook 189
How Will Most Financial Advisers Fight You? 189
The Totem Pole View 197
Is Government Action Required? 200
RULE 9 Avoid Seduction 205
Confession Time 205
Investment Newsletters and Their Track Records 210
High-Yielding Bonds Called "Junk" 213
Fast-Growing Markets Can Make Bad Investments 214
Gold Isn't an Investment 216
What You Need to Know about Investment Magazines 216
Hedge Funds-The Rich Stealing from the Rich 219
Don't Buy a Currency-Hedged Stock Market ETF 223
Beware of the Smart Beta Promise 225
Don't Jump Heavily into Small-Cap Stocks 226
Conclusion 231
About the Author 233
Index 235
