Blessed by the Potato

By now you all know that I’ve been working on an investing book. I’m pleased to announce that the title is The Value of Simple: A Practical Guide to Taking the Complexity Out of Investing.

I’m aiming for a December 1 release and I’m really excited about it. I’ve put a lot of work into refining the book and testing it out with readers (novices and experts) to make sure it works. I even like love the title.

Briefly, The Value of Simple: A Practical Guide to Taking the Complexity Out of Investing is a plain-language guide to implementing an index investing strategy for Canadians. With a focus on developing good processes to minimize the room for human error and step-by-step instructions, the book walks investors through the elements of managing their finances for the long term: how they can determine an appropriate asset allocation, devise a savings plan, stick to it through automation, track their investments, and deal with the inevitable issue of taxation. It provides tools and templates, along with default suggestions and rules-of-thumb to help prevent analysis paralysis and get investors started as soon as possible. Moreover, it directs the reader to focus on what can be controlled, to minimize effort and complexity.

For the average investor, a low-cost index investing approach is the easiest and simplest method available, and also provides the highest chances of long-term success. While there is a lot of material available on why investors should choose passive approaches over high-fee active mutual funds and what passive investing products exist, the average investor is at a loss on how to implement a passive index investing plan.

Investing doesn’t have to be complex to be successful. Indeed, simple solutions are valuable and are more likely to succeed in the long term. This book will guide you through implementing those simple solutions.

There is a separate webpage for the book (click here!) where you can find more details and pre-order it (and soon, purchase it). You can also sign up for email updates below (and I promise to only send a few):