When we started wondering about which books the top investors recommend, we naturally turned first to Warren Buffett.
Now we take a look at what Vanguard founder, index fund evangelist and éminence grise Jack Bogle lists as his must-read tomes on investing. (There’s a new book by/on Bogle himself, The Man in the Arena, edited by Knut Rostad.)
The six books he favors, according to a list he shared with Business Insider, lean heavily to the strategy and philosophy of investing. We’ve included a look at what Amazon.com readers are saying.
Check out Bogle’s 6 Best Books for Investors:
1. “The Intelligent Investor”
The Tale: Bogle and Buffett both cited Benjamin Graham’s 1949 book, focused on his strategy of loss minimization over profit maximization. Buffett wrote a preface and appendix to the 2006 edition.
Amazon Rating: 271 of 418 give it 5 stars, 10 give it 1
Cogent Customer Quote: “This is a book about investment philosophy (not [a] ‘how to make million’ book, not [a] ‘how to analyze stock’ book, not [a] ‘how to pick stock’ book).” – Larry Vu
2. “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”
The Tale: Princeton alumnus Bogle likes to playfully denigrate Yale and Harvard while promoting Princeton and its thinkers. But even Ivy League competitors would have a hard time arguing with Bogle’s second pick, in which Princeton economist Burton Malkiel argues that Wall Street prices are random. Bogle says that helps “solidify the intellectual basis for my personal favorite investment, the index fund.”
Amazon Rating: 182 of 287 give it 5 stars, 25 give it 1
Cogent Customer Quote: “The book explodes the belief one can find the system that will make us all rich. It doesn’t exist. The author gives good advice about not trying to figure out a system, just buy whole market index funds.” – Richard H. Elferste
3. “Unconventional Success”
The Tale: David Swensen laid out his influential roadmap for leading the Yale University endowment fund. Bogle says the lessons can apply to individual investors as well.
Amazon Rating: 58 of 113 give it 5 stars, 5 give it 1
Cogent Customer Quote: “I read this book before I was an investment advisor, have reread it since, and recommend it to my clients who want to understand how the stock market, and how investors, work.” – Elizabeth Potts Weinstein