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The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work Kindle Edition

by Richard A. Ferri (Author), John C. Bogle (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
See all formats and editions
A practical guide to passive investing

Time and again, individual investors discover, all too late, that actively picking stocks is a loser's game. The alternative lies with index funds. This passive form of investing allows you to participate in the markets relatively cheaply while prospering all the more because the money saved on investment expenses stays in your pocket.

In his latest book, investment expert Richard Ferri shows you how easy and accessible index investing is. Along the way, he highlights how successful you can be by using this passive approach to allocate funds to stocks, bonds, and other prudent asset classes.

  • Addresses the advantages of index funds over portfolios that are actively managed
  • Offers insights on index-based funds that provide exposure to designated broad markets and don't make bets on individual securities
  • Ferri is also author of the Wiley title: The ETF Book and co-author of The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning

If you're looking for a productive investment approach that won't take all of your time to implement, then The Power of Passive Investing is the book you need to read.

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  1. Print length
    291 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Wiley
  5. Publication date
    November 4, 2010
  6. File size
    1718 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Investing is serious business and mistakes cost money. Whether you’re acting for yourself or as a fiduciary for others, your aim should always be to reduce mistakes and increase the probability that the portfolio you’re responsible for succeeds in achieving its objective.

Nobody understands this better than author Richard Ferri, an investment expert and founder of the advisory firm Portfolio Solutions®. Now, in The Power of Passive Investing, he reveals how this proven strategy can effectively put your portfolio in a better position to gain its fair share of market returns. This approach is done with a strong understanding and commitment to low-cost, passively managed index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—which, today, span almost every asset class and style, including U.S. and foreign equity funds, bond funds, commodities funds, and even currencies.

Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this reliable resource offers practical guidance on creating a sound, long-term investment plan—within a framework of controlled risk—and helps clarify and quantify the purpose of investing along the way. Containing dozens of historical studies covering several decades and financial markets, it will clearly show you how passive investors who buy the market will capture better results than most active investors who try to beat the market.

Divided into three comprehensive parts, The Power of Passive Investing:

  • Tracks the passive versus active debate from its beginnings early in the twentieth century to today and explores the advantages of investing in individual index funds and ETFs over individual actively managed funds
  • Focuses on portfolio decisions and investor behavior and looks at some of the reasons more people haven’t put the power of passive investing to use yet
  • Discusses the purpose of investment policy and makes the case for passive investing in terms of four different groups: individual investors and their families; trustees of charities and private accounts; pension trustees and those who select investment options for employer-sponsored pension plans; and professional investment advisors

Attempting to earn above-market returns with a portfolio of actively managed funds is both a waste of time and money. A well-designed, passive investment approach that utilizes index funds and ETFs has the highest probability of meeting your financial goals and is the most prudent choice for your money. The Power of Passive Investing will show you why this is true as well as how this approach can work for you.

From the Back Cover

Investing is serious business and mistakes cost money. Whether you’re acting for yourself or as a fiduciary for others, your aim should always be to reduce mistakes and increase the probability that the portfolio you’re responsible for succeeds in achieving its objective.

Nobody understands this better than author Richard Ferri, an investment expert and founder of the advisory firm Portfolio Solutions®. Now, in The Power of Passive Investing, he reveals how this proven strategy can effectively put your portfolio in a better position to gain its fair share of market returns. This approach is done with a strong understanding and commitment to low-cost, passively managed index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)―which, today, span almost every asset class and style, including U.S. and foreign equity funds, bond funds, commodities funds, and even currencies.

Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this reliable resource offers practical guidance on creating a sound, long-term investment plan―within a framework of controlled risk―and helps clarify and quantify the purpose of investing along the way. Containing dozens of historical studies covering several decades and financial markets, it will clearly show you how passive investors who buy the market will capture better results than most active investors who try to beat the market.

Divided into three comprehensive parts, The Power of Passive Investing:

  • Tracks the passive versus active debate from its beginnings early in the twentieth century to today and explores the advantages of investing in individual index funds and ETFs over individual actively managed funds
  • Focuses on portfolio decisions and investor behavior and looks at some of the reasons more people haven’t put the power of passive investing to use yet
  • Discusses the purpose of investment policy and makes the case for passive investing in terms of four different groups: individual investors and their families; trustees of charities and private accounts; pension trustees and those who select investment options for employer-sponsored pension plans; and professional investment advisors

Attempting to earn above-market returns with a portfolio of actively managed funds is both a waste of time and money. A well-designed, passive investment approach that utilizes index funds and ETFs has the highest probability of meeting your financial goals and is the most prudent choice for your money. The Power of Passive Investing will show you why this is true as well as how this approach can work for you.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004BDOZG2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (November 4, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1718 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 291 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 58 ratings

About the author

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Richard A. Ferri

Richard A. Ferri

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Mr. Ferri earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Science degree in Finance from Walsh College. He also holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Prior to joining the investment community in 1988, Rick served as an officer and jet pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and is now retired from the Marine Corps Reserve.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
58 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive resource
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2010
Verified Purchase
This is the first book I've read from Rick Ferri and it won't be the last. Mr. Ferri jumps into the debate whether passive investing outperforms active investing over time. He sticks a fork in active investing starting in Chapter 1 and by the end of the book it's a virtual blood bath. Ferri slays the active management zombies in this comprehensive book covering decades of academic research into the subject.

I'll submit that the writing was a bit intense and academic at times. But I don't think the author had much of a choice when presenting his case. His precise and detailed writing style was necessary to counteract decades of sales and marketing messages from Wall Street. At the end Ferri's victory is so lopsided that you feel kind of sorry for the active investors of the world.

My favorite section of the book was Part I: The Active vs. Passive Debate. While I had heard many of the arguments before, I've never read such a concise summary of the debate. And at the end it really crystallized my understanding of the market and how active funds under perform the market relative to their costs.

I highly recommend this book to all investors. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a first book on investing. I know Mr. Ferri has written other books which may be more suitable to new investors. But it's a great resource to new investors that understand the basics of investing.
18 people found this helpful
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Reviewer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is a really good book by Rick Ferri, though it slows down a little at the end.
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Ricardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Content is Excellent but.....
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2011
Verified Purchase
Having read all but one of Ferri's other books, this one is among the best. Written in plain English with a bibliography that could keep one reading more about the subject for years to come.

I'm already a believer in passive investing so the only reason I even purchased the book was to learn a little more about the theory. I was not disappointed in the least.

The "but" has nothing at all to do with the content and I would not take away a star for it. However, like many other books converted to the Kindle format, I find the tables/charts very difficult to read. Subtle shadings between various graph lines really don't come through very well and the font seems to remain smaller no matter what I try. A bit of a nuisance.
4 people found this helpful
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Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Advice
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book is a real eye opener and should be required reading for every investor who would like to retain their investment balance and maximize gains through passive index investing. The author relates in easy to understand language how investors are giving away their money unnecessarily due to advisor fees and hidden costs associated with their accounts.

The compounding affect of the money saved by reducing investment fees is staggering in the long run. Richard Ferri should be commended for his integrity and valuable advice. That all proceeds from this book go to military relief organizations is proof that Rick has no personal motive for his advice. He honestly wants to help refocus the industry to its original goals through staying the course with periodic re-balancing as an investment strategy.
One person found this helpful
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stillastudent
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't just do something, stand there!
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
Some investors do too little, by not becoming informed about large scale issues ("What is asset allocation?") or by delegating all their investment decisions (e.g. to an actively managed mutual fund). Others do too much, by chasing last year's winners or imagining that reading advice columns is a good substitute for immersing oneself in really understanding companies and their economic sector, i.e., quitting the day job to gamble in the market. This book, like others in the genre, urges us to learn enough so that we understand the value of investing, of diversifying our investments, and of reducing both costs and risks through passive investing in broad index-based funds... and of exercising the discipline of doing nothing, once the big-picture issues are understood and sensible investments made. After that, rebalance periodically. When? How often? Well, that is another murky area. Good luck to us all.
2 people found this helpful
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SNOOKIE
5.0 out of 5 stars Best one yet
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2011
Verified Purchase
I have all of Rick's books. This one is one of the best books that he has written.
By the way the portfolios shown in previous of Rick's books survived the market colapse and made money for the investor throught out the entire period.

I have been an investor for the last 76 years and I rely on my stock portfolio to provide funds in addition to social security. I rely on my portfolio to keep this old lady's peace of mind during these dangerous times for investors and to keep me wealthy and healthy.
9 people found this helpful
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K. L. Tapley
2.0 out of 5 stars It's all relative....
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2013
Verified Purchase
I am on a personal journey of financial learning. I have been reading or listening to everything I can get my hands on regarding money, investing, property, taxes, etc, as I am a high-income earner with essentially no prior financial background (ie: HUGE target for IRS). This seems like it will be a good book for me to buy in paper format and read once I am more sophisticated in fund investing in general. For now, in audio form, it seems complicated, dense, and full of graphics / tables that, naturally, you can't "see" when listening to. The big picture that I'm taking away from the book will, no doubt, help me continue my learning process.
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J. Colbert
5.0 out of 5 stars The title says it well
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2011
Verified Purchase
I have read most of Mr. Ferri's books. His book on Asset Allocation is possibly the best on that subject [and that is HIGH praise].

This book is his best writing so far. Many people will not need anything more than this book.

The first part reviews the academic studies, which overwhelmingly show that you are extremely unlikely to beat a broad market index with actively managed funds, whether you pick them or hire someone to pick them, especially after costs are deducted.

The second and third parts of the book discuss the mechanics of investing successfully: asset allocation, rebalancing, etc.
.
2 people found this helpful
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