I’M A TERRIBLE READER. I have been my entire life. This was very upsetting to my mother, who felt reading was the key to success.
In fact, my entire family were great readers. Sunday’s New York Times was a fixture in my parents’ house. They’d spend hours reading every section. I hated it.
My father was born in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City. He attended Purdue University, studying chemical engineering, but didn’t graduate. Still, he loved to read. I was told by one of his school buddies that my father would buy a paperback and read it while waiting for his friend to arrive. When the friend arrived, he’d tear out the section he just read, throw it away and stuff the rest in his pocket.
My mother was determined to make me a great reader. She invested a good deal of money sending me to private reading programs, with the goal of increasing my reading speed and comprehension. It didn’t work.
I had to work hard to get through school and college. I chose mathematics as my major because there was less reading, while my minor was economics, so I could better understand money. My post-graduate insurance studies involved a great deal of reading. All this work. All this reading. It was maddening.
To this day, when I have time available and I feel like reading, it’ll usually be something that has a practical benefit. I also enjoy reading biographies. I’ve always found learning about other people’s lives, and how and why they did what they did, fascinating.
These biographies have included those of industrial giants like Andrew Carnegie, who emigrated to America, made a fortune and gave it all away. Or his righthand man, Charles M. Schwab, who was paid $1 million a year by Andrew Carnegie but died a pauper because of his lifestyle of wine, women and song.
I’ve also read about famous investors like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. I wanted to learn how they could make so much money when we mere mortals can’t. And I’ve read the stories of successful casino gamblers and blackjack players, and how they did it. Hint: They all have an angle that tilts the odds in their favor.
My No. 1 nonfiction type of reading is financial. But in picking books, my focus wasn’t how to get rich or how to make a killing on Wall Street. Rather, I was focused on how not to go broke. One area I’ve found especially informative is behavioral finance. I’m interested in how my own behavior can trip me up.
I wish I could tell you I’ve identified the behavioral traps I fall prey to and I now avoid them. But the truth is, I still make mistakes. That’s okay. I know I’m not perfect. I just don’t want to be broke.
No matter how smart or educated we are, we’re all human and hence prone to mistakes. I’d recommend every investor review a list of behavioral finance traps and keep them in mind. These mistakes will undoubtedly cause us pain, but hopefully the results won’t be catastrophic, like the financial pain caused by compulsive gambling or compulsive trading.
Every time I read a book, even those I enjoy, it doesn’t take me long to become sleepy. This was a problem when I needed to read for school, but it isn’t anymore. Being retired, I have the freedom to do anything I want. Sleeping is no exception. Taking a one-hour nap is wonderful. For those of you who fight your body when it tells you it’s time to sleep, I’d advise listening to your body. It is much smarter than you are—and it knows what you need.
I also primarily read biographies. I read those of all the presidents and Alexander Hamilton. I also find learning about other people’s lives, and how and why they did what they did, fascinating. What’s ironic though is I find I have trouble establishing relationships.
Mike Gaynes: You wrote that “Right now I’m reading Johnson’s History of the Jews. Guess how often finance figures into THAT story.”
I am sure you did not mean to be offensive, but your reference to Jews and finance/money was really hurtful. This type of stereotyping in your comment is hurtful to Jews especially in light of the rising antisemitism going on today. To reference “finance” in a reference to Jews is the type of remark that was not enjoyable to read.
Mark, I just now spotted your comment, and I don’t know if you’ll read my response, but it’s worth a try.
I am Jewish and something of a history buff, and it is a historical fact that throughout history we have integrated into other, sometimes hostile societies by providing financial services. And the financial support of Jewish financiers to kings and governments has enabled economic development and changed the outcomes of wars, thus altering human history itself.
I’m sorry you were hurt by the reference, but in this case the offensive stereotype is based on historical reality. To you, I can only offer my strongest recommendation of Johnson’s book.
I’m with you on naps, David — I have been since college — but definitely not on books. I am an obsessive reader, always have been. I was reading before I could talk. My dad would sit me on his lap to read to me, and at 18 months I was following along with my finger. I blew through the school reading program SRA like Mario Andretti through a finish line.
I’ve always focused on history and biographies, and oddly I’ve learned a lot about investing behavior from them. Financial decisions change the lives of even the most famous people. They also change national histories and cause wars and mass movements of populations. Right now I’m reading Johnson’s History of the Jews. Guess how often finance figures into THAT story.
One thing I can suggest, David, to fight the “sleepies” when you read… take your book into the Throne Room with you. Given the time it takes me at my age to… um… accomplish my mission in there, I can get through entire chapters. I call it Reading With Regularity.
I am quite the opposite in some ways. The only thing I was really good at from grade school on was reading two or three levels above the standard for my age.
My favorite author is David McCullough I read all his books and couldn’t put them down. I’m sorry there won’t be more. I also read biographies of famous Americans.
I often visit historical places in the books I read- Kitty Hawk, Lindberg’s grave in Hana, HI, the Panama Canal, Lewis’s and Clark’s camp sites, Little Bighorn, etc.
These days I am constantly reading, but often on an iPad.
About the nap, you are so right, right about 3:00 each day my body sends a signal.