Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy J. Siegel
I first read this book back in 1994 when the first edition came out. It was a great time to be in the stock market and this book was a valuable help for me. I decided to check out the current version (now in its fifth edition) to see how the book has changed after all that has happened in the intervening years.
The book has been updated throughout and includes data and information up to its 2014 publication date. This includes the ‘dot com’ bubble of the early 2000s and the 2008 financial crisis.
I found that the information in this book remains relevant. The point that I disagree with is the use of standard deviation as a measure of risk. This is a common issue with almost all economics books and in this case it doesn’t significantly detract from the overall message of the book. The basic premise that stocks do better than other investments over time holds true. The calculations of portfolio allocation can be left aside.