Anybody read a good book lately? I’d like to share with you
my most recent summer read. The book is brand new and it’s
called Investing – Starting From Scratch by Janet Holt. I
was asked by a mutual friend to review the book for our
community and beyond. When I received it in the mail, I
thought to myself, “Uh oh, it’s a beginner’s book. Probably
won’t be all that intriguing.”

But I was pleasantly surprised. Between the catchy
“henhouse” analogies and a huge array of interesting facts
and demographics, the book actually became a real page
turner.

Janet bases the book’s theme on “don’t put all your eggs in
one basket”, and then she proceeds to cover all the baskets
available to individual investors. While the book is
considered a primer (she makes it clear early on that she is
not a professional and that she won’t give investing
advice), she does an excellent job of systematically
covering every conceivable avenue (or golden egg) in just
the right amount of detail.

The book starts with the basics – the importance of
compounding, the Rule of 72, how to purchase a stock, etc.
But she tackles more complicated subject matter, such as the
bond markets, currency trading, and puts and calls, to name
a few.

My favorite part of the book covers “the number.” I’ve read
articles and seen other books that were written solely to
help people figure out how much money they must set aside
for retirement. But Janet manages to boil it down into one
very informative chapter, complete with worksheets.

As a stock/mutual fund investor, I must admit that I am
clueless about other types of investing, so even though it
was a beginner’s book, I picked up a lot of useful
information, especially about bonds and various income
instruments.

Not only does Janet cover investing basics, she takes it all
the way through choosing a broker, measuring returns and
finding the right online tools. She ends the book with an
entire chapter of tips and tricks for reducing debt and
cutting expenses. She even provides food for thought out
generating income in retirement.

If your portfolio has been crippled by this recession and
it’s left you feeling a lack of confidence in your overall
plan, maybe you need to start from scratch! OK, maybe not.
But I highly recommend Investing – Starting From Scratch to
get you back on track. It’s not just for beginners. You
can find the book by searching “Janet Holt” at
www.amazon.com. You can also learn more about Janet by
going to her website at www.janetholt.com.

So if you’ve found other great books this summer, please
share them with the rest of us.

Lynn Ostrem
garbagecop@gmail.com
Crow River Investment Club
www.bivio.com/crowriver