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  • The Simple Path to Wealth

  • Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
  • By: JL Collins
  • Narrated by: JL Collins, Peter Adeney
  • Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (249 ratings)

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The Simple Path to Wealth

By: JL Collins
Narrated by: JL Collins, Peter Adeney
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Publisher's Summary

This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things - mostly about money and investing - she was not yet quite ready to hear. 

Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical. 

"But Dad," she once said, "I know money is important. I just don't want to spend my life thinking about it." This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run. 

Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms. 

Here's an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective. 

The simple approach I created for her and present now to you is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other. 

Together we'll explore: 

  • Debt: why you must avoid it and what to do if you have it 
  • The importance of having f-you money 
  • How to think about money, and the unique way understanding this is key to building your wealth 
  • Where traditional investing advice goes wrong and what actually works 
  • What the stock market really is and how it really works 
  • Why the stock market always goes up and why most people still lose money investing in it 
  • How to invest in a raging bull or bear market 
  • Specific investments to implement these strategies 
  • The Wealth Building and Wealth Preservation phases of your investing life and why they are not always tied to your age 
  • How your asset allocation is tied to those phases and how to choose it 
  • How to simplify the sometimes confusing world of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA, and Roth accounts 
  • TRFs (target retirement funds), HSAs (health savings accounts), and RMDs (required minimum distributions) 
  • What investment firm to use and why the one I recommend is so far superior to the competition 
  • Why you should be very cautious when engaging an investment advisor and whether you need to at all 
  • Why and how you can be conned, and how to avoid becoming prey 
  • The truth behind Social Security 
  • A case study on how this all can be implemented in real life 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio. 

©2016 JL Collins (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"In the dark, bewildering, trap-infested jungle of misinformation and opaque riddles that is the world of investment, JL Collins is the fatherly wizard on the side of the path, offering a simple map, warm words of encouragement and the tools to forge your way through with confidence. You'll never find a wiser advisor with a bigger heart." (Malachi Rempen, filmmaker, cartoonist, author, and self-described ruffian)

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    2 out of 5 stars

Just OK

A lot of the book was lost on me as I’m not in the US. I ended up skipping quite a few chapters because of that.

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4 people found this helpful

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Love the book and love the narration

This book has so much relevance, even for Australia. There are chapters relating to 401K but I even managed to get useful info out of those chapters. Every Mum and Dad investor or young person starting out in life should read this.
I am close to retirement and learnt so much but wish I had read something like this 30 years ago.
I could seriously listen to this guy all day. I believe he has retired now but he could get a job on the side narrating.

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3 people found this helpful

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One of the easiest books about retirement planning I've found

OK, so yes, this is American biased, but I actually found the explanation of the different type of savings option they have over there was really clear and concise, so was glad I didn't take his advice to skip those chapters, and the rest of the book applies generally to almost all financial markets, so if you're not US based dont let that put you off.

I read a few reviews before I decided to purchase, and one in particular mentioned about him saying the stock market always goes up, and, whilst that is something of a simplification, that's largely the point of this book, to make things as simple to understand as possible, and I also felt it was clear that the ride upwards is pretty volatile, and you need to be looking at long frames. Even though the US market has gone up every 30 year period since it started there are no guarantees it will continue to do so, but this is a fire and forget approach to allow everyday people to save for retirement, and so few of us are doing that now and facing a certain financial brick wall I personally think the risk of that certainty outweighs the risk id be losing money by investing long term as I have nothing to show for my working years really. Be warned, he's a big saver, talking about investing half your income, don't be put off by this because even if you can't do that now you can start with what you can, and that's better than nothing.

I've been a big fan of index trackers for many years, but not a regular investor, so have only myself to blame for not having started early and continued, but I think if id found this book 25 Year ago the advice in there would have been simple enough for even me to follow. If you know about finance and investing this won't be for you, but if you're wanting to get some ideas on how to start for either yourself or your kids, then this was one of the easiest listens on this whole area I've heard. Try the sample and check the narration is OK, but I personally loved the deep voice and stories, and the relentless :) persuit of keeping things nice and simple, and I think he's done a super job. If I'd found this 25 years ago I'd be retired by now, so you have very little to lose by getting this one and giving it a listen, and plenty to gain if this appproach will work for you.

So impressed was even inspired to write my first book review! Give this one a try if you're on the fence, it could genuinely change your life.

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Great content!

I like how simple the strategy is, with good reasoning behind it whilst acknowledging risks.

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  • cam
  • 15-11-2022

"The stock market always goes up"

Be wary when anyone tells you that an investment "always goes up", even in the long term.

Take a look at the Nikkei 225's performance over the last forty years for example and accept that stock markets all over the world can decline over the long term as well.

The disappointing aspect of this book is just how heavily the author recommends stock market investing without considering any other investment options. I kept listening for a while until I realized the entire book is focused on index funds.

Despite this, the audiobook is well-narrated. I may still be interested in other books released by this author.

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A great read

An excellent easy to listen to investment book- cementing the benefits of simplicity and indexing and managing our behaviour to achieve long term results

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Ageless Advice in securing one's future.

Aside for Mr Collins brilliant book I also would like to thank Andrei Jikh for putting me onto a great book.

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Wish I had read/ listened to this book earlier

I would recommend this book to everyone looking for advice on financial independence. I only just stumbled onto this book and wish I had read it earlier. The author is great to listen to and I devoured this book in two days.

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Best book for anyone seeking financial independence

Great book, 100% recommend. Anyone seeking early retirement or simple wanting to build wealth will appreciate this book and the narration is perfect

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  • Bee
  • 11-07-2021

Strategised wealth accumulation book - Great for young adults or any age really..

It is a great book for young adults for wealth accumulation, I am from Australia and not young adults lol! Yes, it is true that the stock and funds he mentioned are not available in Australia, but more importantly, it gives you the basic principal and step by step of wealth accumulation for anyone who doesn’t have the concept of it—- which is almost everyone(or just my teenager kids…) because of the current world’s education system. I think it is a great book for youngsters (or any age really, but youngsters are the best) who started work and got a bit lost in between as in what to do(what career path…). Well written and so grateful to be stumbling upon it in a FB group~

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