Good book/gift for a 13YO interested in investing?
December 6, 2023 5:30 AM Subscribe
My eighth-grader is in his finance/investment club at school and now wants to know everything about the stock market, investment banking, quantitative analysis, etc. He has asked for a book on investing for Christmas. He finds the "for dummies" series insulting (or really anything marketed for beginners). Any ideas?
I considered a subscription to the WSJ, but even just the weekend is more than $300, more than my budget of $50. For screen-time reasons I'd prefer print to digital. At the moment my best idea is the monthly Kiplingers, which is $20 for the year.
Or are there other cool gift ideas for a kid interested in finance that you can think of? If we were bazillionaires of course I'd set him up with his own investment account :)
I considered a subscription to the WSJ, but even just the weekend is more than $300, more than my budget of $50. For screen-time reasons I'd prefer print to digital. At the moment my best idea is the monthly Kiplingers, which is $20 for the year.
Or are there other cool gift ideas for a kid interested in finance that you can think of? If we were bazillionaires of course I'd set him up with his own investment account :)
The Intelligent Investor is a classic of the genre. I read it about 10 years ago. It's one of Warren Buffett's top recommended books.
Your child will absolutely not feel dumbed down to.
When it comes to investing personally, I'm mostly an index fund kind of guy. But the company value info in this book has absolutely made me more confident in understanding the business health of the places I have actually worked, which puts me in a much better position in re. asking for raises/promotions, or anticipating big business moves before the word comes down. Market investment info with life investment on the side.
posted by phunniemee at 5:54 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Your child will absolutely not feel dumbed down to.
When it comes to investing personally, I'm mostly an index fund kind of guy. But the company value info in this book has absolutely made me more confident in understanding the business health of the places I have actually worked, which puts me in a much better position in re. asking for raises/promotions, or anticipating big business moves before the word comes down. Market investment info with life investment on the side.
posted by phunniemee at 5:54 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
You don't actually have to be a bajillionaire to set him up his own investment account! I believe for example Fidelity brokerage accounts have no minimum, no trading fees, and they allow fractional trades (so your kid doesn't have to save up to buy a whole share of AAPL or whatever). You could put $50 in an account and let your kid do what he wants with it. (If he thinks he's too smart for "For Dummies" at 13, there's a good chance he'll lose it all, but that's part of investing, better to get it out of the way now!)
There are other companies that offer similar types of accounts; I just know Fidelity best and can attest that the web interface won't make you completely tear your hair out.
posted by mskyle at 6:03 AM on December 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
There are other companies that offer similar types of accounts; I just know Fidelity best and can attest that the web interface won't make you completely tear your hair out.
posted by mskyle at 6:03 AM on December 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a classic - perhaps the classic - book on investing for the general public. (In print since 1973, written by an economist yet still a perpetual best-seller, etc.) It does fall between the "dummies" and technical writing, and if it's too challenging for him right now, he can always pick it up again in a year or two.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:42 AM on December 6, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:42 AM on December 6, 2023 [8 favorites]
You also open a custodial brokerage account through Fidelity or whomever (or a custodial IRA - if your kid has taxable income) for index funds, which would be the best, because actual investing of individual stocks is generally a bad idea, it will teach your kid to put a portion of their earnings into savings regularly, and the compounding timeline will be longer because kid is starting way earlier than most people.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:26 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:26 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Kate Raworth Doughnut Economics gives side-eye to the whole crazy edifice of finance as she is spoke today. It may help your 8th-grader dispute the premise before trying to answer the question.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:35 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:35 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Remanences of a Stock Operator by Edwin LeFevre (aka Jesse Livermore).
It is written novel like and it is about Jesse Livermore's operations around the turn of the 20th century, but I read it as a teen and it got me hooked. I have been a trader my entire career since the 1980s. I credit (or blame) this book. There are many many trading lessons in it, but it is not a text book.
Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd is a classic text. Warren Buffet gave a speech or wrote a paper (or both) about it. It is all about value investing. Dry, but worth a read at some point.
I also really liked the autobiography of Bernard Baruch. It is a two part (two books) autobiography. I liked them both but the relevant part is all about his days as a short seller before he got into government work. It is the first book.. I was gifted it by a family friend and it also made an impression on me.
I happen to think what would serve him best is to start learning about the history of Wall Street and some of the investing and trading rules that have stood the test of time.
THere is also the series The Market Wizards which is excellent stories about more recent traders. I also read a book, I think it is called, The Crash of 1929 that was really interesting reading.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:01 AM on December 6, 2023
It is written novel like and it is about Jesse Livermore's operations around the turn of the 20th century, but I read it as a teen and it got me hooked. I have been a trader my entire career since the 1980s. I credit (or blame) this book. There are many many trading lessons in it, but it is not a text book.
Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd is a classic text. Warren Buffet gave a speech or wrote a paper (or both) about it. It is all about value investing. Dry, but worth a read at some point.
I also really liked the autobiography of Bernard Baruch. It is a two part (two books) autobiography. I liked them both but the relevant part is all about his days as a short seller before he got into government work. It is the first book.. I was gifted it by a family friend and it also made an impression on me.
I happen to think what would serve him best is to start learning about the history of Wall Street and some of the investing and trading rules that have stood the test of time.
THere is also the series The Market Wizards which is excellent stories about more recent traders. I also read a book, I think it is called, The Crash of 1929 that was really interesting reading.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:01 AM on December 6, 2023
From the very short introduction series, Banking and Capitalism might be good. I would have suggested Mathematical Finance as well, but it's probably a bit advanced.
posted by plonkee at 9:07 AM on December 6, 2023
posted by plonkee at 9:07 AM on December 6, 2023
apologies for bad formatting but "The Education of a Speculator" by Niederhoffer
posted by evilmonk at 6:51 PM on December 6, 2023
posted by evilmonk at 6:51 PM on December 6, 2023
Flash Boys, to teach the child how the securities system is rigged against individual players. Also an easy entertaining read.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 7:07 PM on December 6, 2023
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 7:07 PM on December 6, 2023
Recent reviews suggest that Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens is still a solid option even 20 years after publication (although you might need to explain what a compact disk is). Even though there is probably some overlap in content for materials aimed at beginners vs teens, I think there is value in acknowledging what young teenagers can do now to prepare them for financial success vs what options will open up to them in the next few years.
Does he already have a 529 account? If so, maybe he would appreciate the opportunity to choose the investments with parental guidance. If he doesn't, then maybe set him up with one and let him choose (again with parental guidance) how to invest $50.
A "Boglehead" recommended book may be of interest.
posted by oceano at 11:54 PM on December 6, 2023
Does he already have a 529 account? If so, maybe he would appreciate the opportunity to choose the investments with parental guidance. If he doesn't, then maybe set him up with one and let him choose (again with parental guidance) how to invest $50.
A "Boglehead" recommended book may be of interest.
posted by oceano at 11:54 PM on December 6, 2023
Response by poster: Thank you everyone! I will buy a couple of these books and see how it goes. I’ll investigate the investment account idea too. Thank you!
posted by Ollie at 2:53 AM on December 8, 2023
posted by Ollie at 2:53 AM on December 8, 2023
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posted by Perplexity at 5:50 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]