The Investor's Dilemma Decoded: Recognize Misinformation, Filter the Noise, and Reach Your Goals - Hardcover

by Roger D. Silk (Author), Katherine A. Silk (Author)

Few aspects of life are as important as personal finance, as subject to your control, and as suffused with misinformation, noise, and confusion.

Now, authors Dr. Roger D. Silk and Katherine A. Silk cut through that confusion and share with you the fruits of their knowledge and experience developed over the last 43 years. After completing a Ph.D. at Stanford where he studied at the cutting edge of finance theory, Dr. Silk's experience includes managing billions of dollars at the World Bank and running a family office for one of the nation's wealthiest families. For the last 26 years as CEO of the nation's leading firm which advises high net worth individuals on financial and other aspects of their philanthropy, Dr. Silk has worked with countless individual investors and financial professionals. Katherine Silk, who holds a master's in history from Stanford, adds a valuable and often-missing historical perspective.

Their weekly blog, dealing in depth with a variety of financial, economic, and planning issues, is read by thousands.

Unlike many authors in the Personal Finance space, the Silks have the deep technical expertise (it's hard to get a graduate degree from Stanford without it), decades of experience, and the rare ability to express complex ideas in clear, easy-to-understand prose.

When Gary Taubes wrote The Case for Keto, he considered calling it "How to Think About How to Eat." Similarly, The Investor's Dilemma Decoded could be titled "How to Think about How to Invest." Investor's Dilemma gives you the tools that 99.9% of investors never master -- these tools allow you to understand how to think about almost any category of investment, and almost any investment product or program.

In addition, the authors take a deep dive into topics including

• What actually generates investment returns (it's probably not what you think)
• Is owning a home an investment (you'll learn why the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no)
• Should you own gold (clue: the largest gold holders in the world are central banks)
• What is a hedge, and are commodity funds an inflation hedge
• What many well-known investment personalities get wrong on about returns (they tell the truth, but it's the wrong truth)
• What risk is, and isn't, and why the "safe" course might be the riskiest (but the government says it's safe).
• How professional financial advisors can add huge value to their individual clients (it's not by picking the best stocks)

Should you read this book? If you want to understand how professionals think about investing, about what is realistic and unrealistic, and learn to spot the difference between a Bull Market and Bull-xxxx, the answer is yes.

Front Jacket

You know how sometimes you feel that you should be doing a better job of investing? You're not alone. In many ways, the typical approach to personal investing is broken. There's too much noise, too many unsubstantiated opinions, and too little understanding.

In The Investor's Dilemma Decoded, authors Roger Silk (Ph.D. in applied economics from Stanford) and his daughter Katherine Silk (MA in history and BA in economics from Stanford) turn down the noise, replace opinion with fact, and provide you with a framework for how to think about almost any personal investing problem you might face. Whether you do your own investing, or employ the services of a dedicated professional (see Chapter 14), you'll be in a position to make informed, thoughtful, good decisions, and reach your goals.

The authors have taken great care to explain clearly many important concepts that investors should know, but often haven't had the opportunity to learn. Some of these are basic, such as why and how a dollar now is worth more than a dollar in the future, and how to calculate it. For others you could search far and wide, and unless you knew where to look in the academic literature, you'd be unlikely to discover answers. Among these are:

• What actually generates investment returns? (Hint: it's not what you usually hear).
• Is owning a home an investment? (Know the history and theory to understand why or why not).
• Should you own gold?
• What most people, including professionals who should know better, get wrong about commodity investing.
• How true statements about returns can be very misleading, and potentially dangerous.
• What risk is, and isn't, and why the "safe" course might be the riskiest (but the government says it's safe).
• Can professional financial advisors add value to their individual clients? (Yes, but not by picking the best stocks).

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR THE INVESTOR'S DILEMMA DECODED

"Are you looking for a well-informed, logical approach to personal finance? If so, The Investor's Dilemma Decoded by Roger and Katherine Silk is the book for you. It is clear, accurate, and persuasive. Over the decades of your life, it could make the difference between mediocrity and comfort, and subpar returns vs. excellence."
--TYLER COWEN, American economist and columnist, Professor, George Mason University

"The Investor's Dilemma Decoded is extremely well written. One of the most thorough and comprehensive primers on investments. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to raise their knowledge of investments."
--THOMAS C . MYERS, CFA, CFP^(R), CPA, CEO and Senior Wealth Advisor, Bordeaux Wealth Advisors

"Easy-to-understand, rock-solid explanation of how a variety of investment assets actually work. A great reference source for potential investors and financial planners alike."
--BRUCE POPPER, CFP^(R), AEP^(R), CHFC^(R), Senior Estate Planning Consultant, Wealth Advisory Group

"Anyone who is investing money or considering investing should read this book. Author Roger Silk's book is a 'playbook' for successful lifelong investing. The advice and counsel of a qualified financial advisor cannot be overstated."
--JAMES A . "JIMMY" JACOBS, CLU^(R), CHFC^(R), President, Milestone Financial Solutions

Author Biography

ROGER D. SILK holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from Stanford. He has served as CEO of Sterling Foundation Management since 1998. Silk earned his CFA in 1990 and has been writing about personal finance since then. He writes the highly respected blog Sterling Insights, and is the author of Politicians Spend, We Pay, and Managing Foundations and Charitable Trusts.

KATHERINE A. SILK has an MA in history and BA in economics from Stanford. She was a management consultant prior to founding Strategic Startup Advisors. Silk is a frequent contributor to Sterling Insights blog.