Better Investing: Investing Resources and Tools To Help You Reach Your Financial Goals 

At Ridgewood Investments, our advisors pride themselves on always continuing to seek out new knowledge about investments and the financial industry. Whether you are a new or an experienced investor, expanding your investing knowledge is essential. New investment options, shifting market conditions, and planning for various life stages necessitates keeping up no matter how extensive your base knowledge. Below are some resources that can help you grow your investing expertise and plan for tomorrow.

Resources to Build Your Background Knowledge

“I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.”

~ Charlie Munger

A thorough understanding of investment basics is key to building an investment portfolio that will stand the test of time. Great investors read constantly about different types of investments, the history of investing, and growing their understanding across the board.

Below are some resources that might be helpful to you in developing your investment knowledge if you are willing to put in the time and effort:

Books

•  A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers From Warren Buffett edited by Peter Bevelin
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger edited by Peter D. Kaufman
• Security Analysis: Sixth Edition, Foreword by Warren Buffett by Benjamin Graham
• Supermoney by Adam Smith
• The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle

Websites

• The SEC has basic definitions and tutorials on investing basics at Investor.gov
• Gain basic knowledge on a wide variety of topics at Investopedia.com.
• Bankrate’s Investing Resources includes short articles on investing topics
• Morningstar’s Investment Classroom offers free self-study of beginner to advanced topics
• TD Ameritrade’s Immersive Curriculum dives into some more advanced topics, such as futures trading
• Ridgewood Investment’s Insights blog includes new articles posted regularly on investing strategies, practical considerations, and more

Podcasts and Videos

• Wealth, Taxes, and Finances with John Cindia - covers investing basics with a focus on retirement and taxes
• Investing with Ken Majmudar - Ridgewood Investments founder Ken Majmudar discusses various investing topics

Daily and Weekly Resources to Keep Up to Date on Market Conditions & Trends

“Investing is most intelligent when it is most businesslike”

~ Benjamin Graham

Warren Buffett famously spends up to 80% of his day reading. Investors who treat investing like a business, and put in the work to keep learning and researching, are likely to see  the best results on their investments. Understanding the current conditions of the market and keeping up-to-date on world news can be achieved by reading and listening to reliable sources daily.

Below are some additional resources you might find helpful for staying up to date on current market conditions:

Periodicals (and their websites)

• The Wall Street Journal (daily)
• Barron’s (weekly)
• Kiplinger's Personal Finance (monthly)
• The Economist (weekly)

Websites:

• Forbes.com
• Marketwatch.com
• WSJ.com
• Bloomberg.com
• Reuters.com

Podcasts

• Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
• CoinDesk’s Money Reimagined

If funds are limited, your local library can be a great resource to access free books, ebooks, audiobooks, and periodicals that are normally behind a paywall.

Resources to Plan for the Future  

"The investor of today does not profit from yesterday’s growth. If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians"

~ Warren Buffett

Predicting the future is of course impossible, but a well-educated investor can hedge against inflation and develop multiple passive income streams to ensure a secure retirement. History can be a great guidepost to the future because while it doesn’t repeat, it often rhymes. The resources previously listed will all help you plan for the future. Some retirement-specific resources include:

• DOL’s Preparing for Retirement
• SSA’s Retirement Benefit Calculators
• Ridgewood Investments Insights blog includes several articles on planning for retirement, such as Effective Strategies to Maximize Income in Retirement and What You Need to Know About Annuities (Secret Pitfalls You Never Figure Out Until It Is Too Late)

It’s hard to plan for the future if you don’t know where you are. Check out The Top 7 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer About Your Finances and come up with a plan to regularly track your finances and rebalance your investments. It doesn’t matter if you use apps, spreadsheets, or even pen and paper so long as you are regularly tracking your investments and assets.

Why a Financial Advisor is Essential for Most Investors

“Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.”

~ Margaret Bonnano

The internet brings the world’s knowledge to your fingertips. Anyone with an internet connection can access millions of resources that claim to help you become a better investor. However, sifting through the often contradictory advice to find trustworthy resources takes time, knowledge, and patience. While do-it-yourself investing can be great if you have the expertise, time, and desire to do so, most investors lack at least one of the three.