Highlights that stood out to me this week.
Let’s be honest: if ever there was a year to indulge in a frivolous Christmas splurge, it was 2020.
This is normally the season when we at Monevator suggest worthwhile money and investing books to give as presents.
The idea is to give someone you care about the gift of financial sense rather than another pair of socks.
Who knows — in a decade they might drop by to tell you they reached financial independence, like my co-blogger The Accumulator recently did.
Buy yourself something nice
This December, though, feels different: masked visits, careful trips to see elderly relatives (or to avoid passing the virus to younger ones) and a general sense of living through the pandemic make the usual festive duties feel austere.
If you want to treat yourself this year — whether that’s the latest smartwatch, a luxury perfume, or just a silly novelty — go ahead as long as it won’t put you in debt.
Best money and investing books for Christmas
If you’re staying on the sensible path, here are several classic and recent reads worth considering for a gift this Christmas. These are focused on investing and financial thinking — great for anyone trying to get their finances in order or deepen their investing knowledge.
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel’s first book distils decades of insight into why people make different financial decisions. It’s a readable, idea-rich guide to the behavioral side of money and an excellent present for someone who could use a fresh perspective on saving and investing.
Investing Demystified
Lars Kroijer explains passive investing with clarity. A former hedge fund manager, he lays out why most individual investors lack an edge in markets and why that makes low-cost global index funds and risk-free bonds a sensible core strategy.
The Man Who Solved the Market
Gregory Zuckerman’s account of Renaissance Technologies lifts the veil on one of the most successful and secretive quantitative funds. It’s great for the investing nerd who loves stories about extraordinary track records, even if it’s not a manual for replicable strategies.
More Money than God
Sebastian Mallaby’s history of hedge funds offers a chapter-by-chapter look at how different managers found ways to produce outsized returns. It’s a readable primer on that corner of the investing world.
Smarter Investing
Tim Hale’s guide for passive investors remains a top recommendation, especially for those building a long-term, low-cost portfolio. It’s practical, well-structured, and still relevant despite being a few years old.
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius
Joel Greenblatt’s older book is a bracing read for the active investor who wants to understand special situations and find an edge. Much of the detail is dated and US-focused, but the mindset it promotes can still inspire thoughtful stock pickers.
The Snowball
This exhaustive biography of Warren Buffett has proved compelling even to readers with little prior interest in investing. At 832 pages it’s a commitment, but a rewarding one for anyone curious about how Buffett thinks and acts.
The Art of Execution
Lee Freeman-Shor examines how some of the best investors handled portfolio decisions, including the often-neglected question of when to sell. It’s an excellent book for committed stock pickers who want to refine their process.
Most of the books above focus on investing rather than basic personal finance. It feels like ages since a transformational primer like Your Money or Your Life made a major cultural impact — perhaps the next Monevator book should aim for that. For readers who have asked, our first book was almost finished last year; delays have pushed our release target into the first half of 2021.
If you want a break from finance, Bill Gates’ list of top books for 2020 offers a broader reading selection to end the year on a different note.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week for the final posts of the year.
From Monevator
Free financial advice: where to get help when you need it – Monevator
Don’t waste money buying expensive gifts – Monevator
Archive feature: ten reasons why houses are a better investment than shares – Monevator
News
Note: some links are search results. On a desktop you may be able to read articles via search results even if they sit behind a paywall. Try an incognito window or consider subscribing to frequently read outlets.
Average house price up £15,000 since June, far outstripping stamp duty savings – ThisIsMoney
£14bn Mastercard class action cleared to proceed in UK court – The Guardian
Call for a one-off ‘wealth tax’ on millionaire households – ThisIsMoney
The Essex traders who seized opportunity when oil briefly turned negative – Bloomberg
Bank of England examines ways to ease mortgage access – The Guardian
Vanguard: despite the pandemic, many investors remain unusually passive — a US-focused report with lessons for global savers – Vanguard
Products and services
How will EU travel restrictions affect Britons with booked holidays? – The Guardian
The Big Exchange launches a sustainable Junior Stocks and Shares ISA – Which?
Sign up to Freetrade via our referral to get a free share on joining – Freetrade
Starling and Monzo top the Which? current account survey for 2020 – Which?
Gallery: fixer-upper homes for sale – The Guardian
Comment and opinion
How millennials became the burnout generation – Vox
The Swiss cheese model: avoiding single points of failure in pandemic planning and life – Abnormal Returns
Why the singularity remains distant — and why some still worry about it – Finumus
Personal finance reflections and long-form reads from around the web, including essays on market behaviour and retirement lessons.
Inflation mini-special
Markets expect higher inflation; will underlying data follow? – Capital Spectator
Commentary arguing that gold may benefit from inflation concerns – MoneyWeek
Retailers roll out early festive discounts as they fight for sales – BBC
Supermarket prices dip into deflation for the first time in 14 months – The Grocer
Can energy and resources stocks shield portfolios from inflation? – What Investment
Naughty corner: Active antics
Timeless stock market advice from the early 1900s — still relevant today – Novel Investor
Are you a permabear? Key questions to assess your outlook – All Star Charts
A light-hearted look at market exuberance — The Irrelevant Investor
Coronavirus corner
How Moderna designed its COVID-19 vaccine — an overview of the science – The New Yorker
Scientists caution against festive gatherings in the UK despite relaxed rules – The Guardian
Analysis: Emergency approval for one vaccine could affect ongoing trials of others – Wired
Oxford vaccine to be trialled in combination with Russia’s Sputnik jab – The Guardian
Broken Britain’s Bonkers Brexit
Commentary on how Brexit rhetoric has drifted into magical thinking – FT
A reminder that the promises sold during the Brexit campaign often proved unrealistic — a retrospective from 2016 – Monevator
Former Australian prime minister cautions that an ‘Australia-style’ deal may not deliver the benefits claimed – The Guardian
Opinion: Boris Johnson’s personal charm has limits when it comes to policy and negotiation – The Guardian
Kindle book bargains
If you don’t own a Kindle, they’re worth considering for reading deals — buy one here.
Amazon FBA Step-By-Step – £0.99 on Kindle
Make Your Bed: 10 Life Lessons from a Navy SEAL – £1.99 on Kindle
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – £1.99 on Kindle
Bean Counters: The Triumph of the Accountants and How They Broke Capitalism – £1.19 on Kindle
Off our beat
Essays and culture: pieces on memory, music rights, modern complexity, and human-interest stories from a range of outlets including Good Beer Hunting, the BBC, and The Guardian.
And finally…
“Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes money.”
– Benjamin Franklin, An American Life
Enjoyed these links? Subscribe to get a weekly roundup. Note: some links in this post are affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you use them, without affecting the price you pay.
- Some articles are only accessible via search results on desktop. If you encounter a paywall, try using your browser’s “request desktop site” option or an incognito window to read individual pieces. [↩]
- Note: the Benjamin Franklin quote is widely attributed and appears in many anthologies; it is not taken from the referenced biography. [↩]