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

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
• Why I don't recommend dollar cost averaging
• What financial independence looks like and how to have your money support you
• What the Four Percent Rule is and how to use it to safely spend your wealth
• The truth behind Social Security
• A case study on how this all can be implemented in real life

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©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)

Lives up to its title . . . and then some

Any additional comments?

Oh how I wish: (a) this book had existed back when I was just graduating from college, (b) somebody had given this book to me, and (c) I had listened to every word in it.

This is one of those "If I knew then what I know now" books. The lessons in here are priceless. Everybody should read this book and heed the advice in it.

The best part is you don't have to be all that interested in finance or 401(k)'s or any of that stuff. In fact, if you really dislike such things, this is probably the perfect book for you. JL Collins takes these complicated and boring financial matters and does two nice things for you: (1) throws out all the crap you don't need to know, and (2) explains what you do need to know in layman's terms that anybody can understand. So not only is the wisdom in this book chockfull of solid gold nuggets on a need-to-know basis, but the delivery is crystal clear and simple to follow in practice.

Speaking of the delivery, OMGoodness does JL Collins have a superb voice for the audiobook format. He reminds me of David McCullough. He has the kind of deep grandfatherly "gather 'round the campfire for a story" voice. It's fabulous.

In summary, this book is worth every penny. Along with a handful of other "quake books" that changed my life for the better, this one is getting added to that list (right alongside John C. Bogle's "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing"). I can't recommend this book enough. Get it for yourself. Listen to it. Make your kids listen to it. Your siblings. Your friends. Your parents. The lessons in it are too valuable not to share with everybody you know.

excellent

I read (listened to) Tony Robinson Money, Master the Game book prior to this. This book covers the main take aways of that book in a much clearer way. highly recommend.

Best Wealth Building Book of 2018

Would you listen to The Simple Path to Wealth again? Why?

Yes, an easy and "simple" read on understanding how to invest in index funds. JL Collins goes over risk and awards, including a easy path to generating financial freedom.

What other book might you compare The Simple Path to Wealth to and why?

Haven't found one as easy as this one.

Which character – as performed by JL Collins and Peter Adeney – was your favorite?

JL Collins

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The difference between stocks, investments, and 401k's.

Best Book on Investing ever!

This book is the one stop shop on investing and becoming rich! At least for most of us. Tried and true method of getting rich that I have been talking about for years. However, Mr. Collins is able to break it down like I never could and give you why this works, why this was is the best for most, if not all of us. Amazing!

simple and to the point

very easy listening, good sound financial advice. I thought he may have been paid by Vanguard to be in the book with how much he touts the funds. But he says that he is not affiliated with them and frankly I believe him.

I only wish I would have read it sooner.

I enjoyed this immensely, especially the reading by the author and the snarky humor he has, which reminded me a lot of my late father so that was fun. Unfortunately, my husband has a lot student loan debt that we have to pay on so the initial chapters were fairly defeating regarding debt. We’ve fallen for the “good-debt” scam, which he discusses in the early part of the book, home mortgage and student loans and parents on both sides with zero wisdom when it comes to finances so if you have a lot of debt your path with all this will definitely be slower but this actually gave me a lot of hope that being only 35 I still have some time to re-route our finances and it is a truly simply path to follow.
I do agree with several other reviews that it’ll be worth getting a hard copy to see the charts and things he references and to be able to re-read and digest certain concepts especially the reallocation once a year he talks about and other breakdowns of things. Great entry level guide to investing.
Oh and yes, he really really really loves Vanguard VTSAX and he swears in the book he’s not being paid by them even though he mentions it about every page... But from what I can find in Google/YouTube searches there are A LOT of really wealthy people that also love Vanguard, so far as I can tell, because of the ease, simplicity and low cost of it all. It’s not the only index fund option but it does seem to be a legit choice. If you don’t like it cool, pick another index, doesn’t change the basic premise of the book being solid. Will be giving this as graduation presents to my nieces and nephews.

Start investing now.

I liked how simple his message was. I knew just keeping your money in the bank was never a good idea (the bank just makes money off of your money). This book gives you glimpse into a better way of using your money rather than having it "sit" in the bank. Make your money work for you.

life changing.

this book has changed everything for me. it delivers on every single promise. the message is clear and simple and effective, and even funny at times

Please write a sequel!

I did not want this book to end! Please write more & please continue to record your own audio books. Really, the content of this book is phenomenal and I predict it will become one of the great classics. But, to also be able to listen to the author read it himself was such a joy - his voice is authoritative and humble and smart ass and kind. He writes this book to his daughter, and it felt like he was my dad reading to me. My dad and this author share a lot of the same opinions on finance and once I share this book with my own dad, I'm sure he will love it and also be mad he didn't write it himself haha. Get this book & your life will be better for it. And if the author ever reads this review; THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart for articulating what my Dad was always trying to teach me. your words are perfect & the lessons are taken to heart.

Informative Investing Tips!

Can't be the basic info given in this book. It will help anyone who has been struggling to get their financial life in order.