No one should ever need to get rich twice.
With a foreword by Michael Lewis.
By the end of 1929, Jesse Livermore was one of the richest men in the world, having shorted the market straight into the crash. Five years later, he filed for bankruptcy for the third time, and this time there was no coming back. He bet enormous sums on single stocks, borrowed to the hilt, and lived so lavishly he could never step back. Had index funds existed, he would have scoffed at them.
Livermore's life is a case study in what happens when you do the opposite of every principle in this book.
Get Rich Once: and Other Financial Wisdom for Our Younger Selves is written for people in their 20s and 30s, right at the start of their financial lives. It's the book Victor Haghani and James White wish someone had handed them at that age. Between them, they've worked the trading floors and research desks of Salomon Brothers, Bank of America, LTCM, and Citadel. They learned early that professional market expertise and good personal financial decisions are two very different things -- they broke most of their own rules, and it cost them dearly, in money and in sleep.
This book brings a new way of thinking to every financial decision you'll ever make: how much to spend and save, what to invest in, whether to buy or rent, what to insure, when to borrow, and how to outsmart the three psychological biases that hurt investors most.
Inside, you'll find:
- seven core principles for making better decisions under uncertainty
- a five-star screen for narrowing the investment universe to a manageable set
- specific, low-cost fund recommendations
- practical guidance on accounts, cards, and taxes
- a single number that tells you exactly what your savings can support
It's relentlessly practical, and it's achievable on an ordinary income, no unusual luck required, no heroic frugality, no schemes. The authors walk you through the reasoning behind every recommendation, so when life hands you a decision this book doesn't cover, you'll know how to work it out yourself.
And unlike stock picking, none of it is zero-sum. Your success never depends on someone else's loss. If everyone followed these principles, everyone would come out ahead.
From the authors of The Missing Billionaires, one of The Economist's Best Books of 2023.
