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Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune

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Fact: the Millennial Generation will not be able to rely on pensions and social security in retirement. Instead, they will have to save and invest in the global stock market to meet their goals. When it comes to thinking about money, Millennials are, as a generation, different from their parents. They are skeptical of expert advice, yet more committed than baby boomers to passing wealth on to future generations. To build wealth, young people must start investing early and buck conventional market wisdom. Millennial Money will explain the most common mistakes that hurt investors’ long-term returns and show why their investments in popular stocks or the hottest industry of the day have resulted in such underwhelming results. More importantly, the book will introduce a strategy that can help us overcome our shortcomings as investors. Armed with this strategy, Millennials can become the most successful investing generation in history.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

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About the author

Patrick O'Shaughnessy

1 book129 followers
Portfolio manager and author Patrick O'Shaughnessy helps investors succeed in the stock market using research based on 90 years of market performance patterns. An expert in investment strategy and investor behavior, the author of Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune is also a contributing author to the national-bestselling fourth edition of What Works on Wall Street: The Classic Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time, by James O'Shaughnessy.

A portfolio manager and principal at O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, Patrick is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.

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5 stars
74 (18%)
4 stars
159 (39%)
3 stars
131 (32%)
2 stars
32 (8%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
156 reviews13 followers
May 7, 2019
The thesis of the book is: time is our biggest ally as young people - so make sure you use it. Compounding accelerates, so if you give yourself 50 years to grow your wealth steadily you will be so much better off if you give yourself 40 years or 30.

Being risk averse as a young person is backward. The stock market has never had negative returns in any 20 year period in its history. Bonds, cash + gold (but not really - don't buy gold) may be safe is some 1 year increments, but in the long run they are risky.

Then the book goes into strategies that can beat the market + the flaw of indexes like the S&P500 (main flaw is that it is weighted, so the stocks at the top like Apple and Amazon have already made their shareholders money by the time they become so heavily weighted - once you buy in there is less space to grow and a lot of space to fall)

The book also goes into a lot of psychological experiments proving why humans are naturally bad investors and why having a process is super important.

It also lays out a few factor-based strategies that young investors who are strapped for time can use to screen for quality stocks to hold over the medium to long term.

I would add this book to "must read" for people who are 25 years or younger, along with The Social Animal - though very different both books provide important messages that are important to understand before embarking on "life"

If you have already read a bunch of investing books, this will probably be not as helpful.
Profile Image for Kris Troy.
19 reviews
July 8, 2016
This book is more of an investment pep talk. it's a lot of fluff and very little substance. There were probably four pages of factual help. I suggest borrowing this from your library, taking a few notes, and promptly returning it.
Profile Image for Meg.
1,695 reviews
September 8, 2021
Boiled down: use young age and compounding interest to your advantage; invest in foreign markets. Hang onto your stocks through periods of volatility; do not trade based on gut instinct or bad headlines.
Profile Image for RoWoSthlm.
97 reviews19 followers
March 27, 2018
I wish I had this book when I was in my twenties. For those who have been involved with investment strategies for a while, it would be mostly a repetition of many known ideas. Nevertheless, the book is very considerate written. Patrick O'Shaughnessy proposes and elaborates on his investment strategy, which is based on five well-known and widely practiced parameters. There are a lot of good and classic advices in the book, whereas the main message, skilfully explained by Patrick, echoes throughout the whole writing. If you’re not able to guess what it is, you should read this book.
Profile Image for Colona Public Library.
1,062 reviews28 followers
July 17, 2018
This was more of a book to encourage young investors. So, I feel like I was introduced to a lot of new things, but I didn't really get to learn about them too much. Some of this book was right on target for me and some of it was a little confusing. I'm eager to perhaps pick up this book again when I learn some more about investing. I think there is some solid advice here so I would recommend this book. ~Ashley
Profile Image for Chelsea Lawson.
290 reviews35 followers
May 17, 2018
This book is a gem. O’Shaughnessy provides clear, compelling arguments for how Millennials should invest their money and gives readers the tools to needed to dive in. Plus, it’s readable and funny.

This quote sums up the main takeaway: “We must remind ourselves that risk must be measured relative to our time horizon; stocks are risky over the short term, but they are the least risky asset over the long term.” Within the category of stocks, some strategies are smarter than others (the ‘Millennial Money strategy’ makes up the bulk of the book), but the #1 rule is to invest!
Profile Image for Jeremiah.
156 reviews1 follower
October 21, 2020
This is a good introduction to the stock market and a reminder to be smart with our finances. He points out that time is our greatest advantage as the younger generation and also breaks down the stock market, which to us by initial impression seems complicated and risky, into something more accessible and profitable. He provides simple tools and advice to lead to a successful investing career. I think the emphasis on long-term thinking is very important and applies to other areas of life as well, especially in such a short-minded society as 21st-century America.
Profile Image for Tristan.
91 reviews8 followers
August 1, 2018
If you are a young investor with savings but no investments, this is a great primer on why you should invest in the stock market ASAP. Contrary to common belief, keeping your money in cash/savings is much riskier than investing it in the market, because inflation will devalue the money you have.

O'Shaughnessy has some basic recommendations like: invest globally, go for a Smart/Alternative Index Fund rather than a Market Index Fund (the former, though volatile, will beat the market in the long-term), pick your stocks based on a checklist (kindly provided) rather than popular opinion, etc.

If anyone wants my detailed reading notes, feel free to PM me your email address.
408 reviews6 followers
July 12, 2018
Ugh sort of a mess. It is a personal finance book written for 20 somethings, but it is too simple at certain spots and then too complex at others. Not recommended at all. For those interested in something like this the best book I have ever read on the subject is still, "A Wealth of Common Sense" by Ben Carlson.
4 reviews
September 27, 2021
For the beginner investor this, after Joel Greenblatt's 'Little Book That Still Beats The Market', is just about the best place to start.

Investing is a complicated subject and so I've seen critique that in some places Patrick's writing is too brief or too complicated, but that, I feel, is part-and-parcel to the distillation of such a subject for legibility and use by the wholly un-initiated.

This book is a useful foundation for understanding the "why", and the basics of investor psychology. For strategy it provides a better paradigm than the boilerplate which relies random walk theory as evidence that you can't beat the market - a notion well worth challenging.

In his father's book 'What Works On Wall Street', there's a tremendous amount of greater detail that by itself is not practicable but rather the validation of a hypothesis that there are factors that win and factors that lose. That isn't to say that with some cleverness and knowledge of spreadsheet software it can't be adapted into a usable investment strategy - I've done so myself.

The strategy in this book and his dad's is useable stuff, but it's more akin to a pile of bricks than a completed building if you catch my drift. Excellent first step for beginners.
Profile Image for Natalie K.
440 reviews26 followers
October 29, 2019
I was all set to give this three stars—the author does make some good points. Millennials need to invest the stock market and getting exposure to international markets isn't a bad thing. However, he kind of went off the rails midway through the book with his "Millennial Money Strategy" which involves buying individual stocks. For the vast majority of investors, buying individual stocks gives your portfolio a lot of concentration risk and is a good way to lose a lot of money really quickly. I was still planning to give it three stars, even with this dubious bit of advice.

Then I got to last chapter, where he recommends specific ETFs, including one that has a 0.69% expense ratio. That's insanely expensive. It's also insanely crass that he pitched this ETF solely because his friend owns the company that manages it. (It's the Cambria Global Value ETF, in case you're wondering.) That's when I decided this book could only receive a maximum of two stars—like I said, there is some good advice in here, but ultimately it's overshadowed by the bad advice, sadly enough.
Profile Image for Emily  Hoisington.
96 reviews5 followers
October 19, 2022
This book, lent to me by my brother, was written as a wake up call to my generation warning us that in the future, we won’t be able to rely on social security and pensions for our retirement. The best plan of action is to start saving and investing NOW.

This easy to read and easy to understand book definitely motivated me to start thinking about my future retirement, even if it does feel far away. The author uses engaging illustrations, visual graphs and current economic trends and projections to clarify his arguments. It’s a book armed with strategy for those interested in stepping foot into the investing world.
Profile Image for Bill Kasakoff.
33 reviews1 follower
May 29, 2015
Young people should should be contributing to their retirement plan at work, if there is one. But too many are not listening to this important advice. I think I am the only one who borrowed this book from my public library! I guess that they are planning on living longer and working until they are 85. Sorry Patrick; I don't think many young people are listening.
Profile Image for Vinny.
28 reviews
June 30, 2017
As a complete novice to investing with a strategy I greatly appreciated the advice in the book. I like the overarching message of patience and prudence through a contrarian strategy. It fits nicely into a stoic mindset.

Time will tell if the advice is salient after I put the strategy into action, but on sheer principles I agree with all the points he makes.
Profile Image for Angela.
2 reviews
December 29, 2020
I stopped reading at page 83 or so. There were definitely some good insights however my overall investment strategy is more conservative and I am not one to research as buy individual stocks (as the book recommends).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Milan Pansuria.
7 reviews6 followers
August 24, 2017
Good read for beginners into stock market and who are looking for a good start to investing. Although it is not a guide for investing.
36 reviews2 followers
March 29, 2020
Pretty good starter book for those with little experience investing. Good focus on basic concepts in a way that anyone can understand.
Profile Image for Kobe.
54 reviews1 follower
May 5, 2020
Good book on investing, that I wish I read like when I was in my 20s.

Nice primer on investing strategies.
23 reviews
April 24, 2019
Author talks about the reasons on why millennials should invest in Global Markets. Invest in low cost global index funds, ETFs, Gold if you are interested. Do not stock pick and be wise in investments. That's all!
I rate it as 3.0/5.0. At this point I have pretty read all major finance books. For me, author just re-iterated the same philosophy that everyone talks about in their books. Like I said, invest in global markets using low cost index funds. make use of your 401K. Nothing new! Again, if you are new to investments, you'll probably gain more insights than me.
Profile Image for Joe Andrukaitis.
18 reviews
October 23, 2018
The first hundred pages are some of the best plain-language financial writing I've ever read. As an older millennial, I really wish I could've read this when I was younger.

The second half gets a little repetitive, a little confusing, and maybe even a little contradictory at times. But still, a good read overall. If you're a beginning investor who doesn't know much about the stock market, this is a fantastic introduction.
Profile Image for Bryan Bouchard.
17 reviews
January 1, 2019
It's a good approach for the investor who is disciplined enough to stick with the same approach for the LONG TERM. When it comes to stock market investing, human nature tends to cause us to deviate from our strategies, especially during the worst times. You're better off not paying any attention to the markets. Set it and forget it. This is not for the active investor.
Profile Image for Casey Bell.
Author 27 books18 followers
January 6, 2018
This book helped me to understand investing much better. I was completely closed minded about investing and it is nothing of what I thought it was. I read this book and a few others and I am now starting to fly this plane called investing.
January 1, 2019
This books clearly explains the concept of inflation and what’s happens to your money if you always keep it liquid. May not be the best book on investment but can be a good read for a novice.

I gave three stars because sometimes I felt that that the author is over explaining the trivial stuffs.

Profile Image for John Cardelli.
3 reviews
January 31, 2017
I really enjoyed this book (Although I caught many spelling errors). It was a great insight to another way of trading. Trade Globally, Who would have thunk it. Great book.
Profile Image for Ben Wong.
215 reviews4 followers
November 2, 2017
Generic book written under the guise of being tailored to millennials. Buy and hold cheap stuff with no stop loss strategy. Right...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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