A revelatory new information to changing into a better investor, drawing upon behavioral psychology, financial modeling, and market historical past to supply sensible recommendation for reaching your monetary targets
“With the fairness and fixed-income markets off to a tough begin in 2022, buyers would possibly do properly to overview the teachings shared in Mr. Nations’s e-book.” —Wall Avenue Journal
The human mind is ill-suited to creating smart funding selections. We’re overconfident in our personal information and hunches, horrible at assessing danger, and vulnerable to chasing monetary thrills relatively than measured long-term targets. Making issues worse, intervals of extreme market turbulence—whether or not the dotcom bubble of the late 90’s, the Nice Recession a decade later, or the temporary, vertiginous COVID crash of 2020—convey out our most irrational selves, on the actual second when the results for funding errors are most extreme.
Scott Nations has spent his profession finding out market volatility. His agency, Nations Indexes, is the world’s main impartial developer of volatility and option-enhanced indexes. In The Anxious Investor, he teaches readers the right way to perceive markets, grasp their very own worry, and take advantage of their cash. Drawing upon cutting-edge analysis in behavioral psychology, Nations reveals that the secrets and techniques to glorious investing lie in mastering the quirks of human psychology. How are some buyers in a position to make prudent selections beneath strain, whereas others depend on intestine intuition to disastrous impact? How can we put together for a market crash earlier than it occurs? And what may help us keep the course when the waters get uneven? Utilizing the tales of three notorious market bubbles as his backdrop, Nations provides readers historical past’s hard-earned classes about greed, volatility, and worth.
Whether or not you’re saving for retirement, a house, or a toddler’s school schooling, The Anxious Investor provides a blueprint for reaching your targets. Whereas we will by no means know precisely which monetary surprises might loom forward, right here is an indispensable useful resource for buyers to make sense of them.
Ray –
Scott’s real investment lessons are invaluable… His experience and knowledge of market’s will help those who are learning to navigate this market. A must read book in one’s financial library.
Scott D. Slick –
More helpful advice than I could possibly enumerate. Thank you for writing it. On to the next self help book.
Patrick Chappell –
A powerful look into our human psychology and how it affects our investment decisions and has throughout history. The book contains a lot of content relatable to the reader and our own emotions, anxieties, etc that play a big roll in our investment decisions and then Scott reveals insight and ideas for ways we can avoid these mistakes and make more sound investment decisions.
Jason –
Scott continues to be a must read for investors
P. Render –
You will improve as an investor by reading this book because Scott identifies commonplace weaknesses and mistakes that most investors make. (If you’ve never made any of them, you will enjoy this book because it will make you feel smart.) His writing is clear and straightforward and it’s an easy read. Highly recommended!
Amazon Customer –
This was an excellent and timely book for me having recently reviewed my investment portfolio with two financial advisors. Although I didn’t feel particularly nervous, I approached The Anxious Investor in consideration of new insights into my previous and current investing strategy. Current events have emphasized how unexpected political, medical and economic difficulties can explode onto the scene. Scott Nations illustrates with multiple historical references and psychological studies how to analyze your potential for errors and maintain a steady thoughtful awareness of how markets can fluctuate over time and estimate ongoing risk exposure. Part history lesson, part psychoanalysis, this book is well worth reading by any investor, anxious or otherwise. The checklist chapter will be at least an annual read for me. The source notes and index provide additional resources for history buffs and students of investing. A great gift book for friends, too.
Dean Beckette –
So…here we are with another of Scott Nations books. This is a “lighthearted” look at investment bias, and how we as humans invest with the wrong mindset in the worst possible ways at the worst possible times. I say lighthearted because he coaxes us, the readers, to employ some self examination throughout the book to see where each of us may be using a particular bias (and since none of us are perfect – I confess I saw myself in some of those situations), and how these psychological tricks we play on ourselves, work against us and not for us. It is also lighthearted in that, he urges us to do the self examination not in an accusatory way, but in a gentle, “yes, you suffer from this bias, but we all do…it’s human nature, and there is no shame in having succumbed to human nature.” However, the good news is that, we CAN in fact fix ourselves, provided we are able to have this conversation about our own biases. I will admit that it is not easy, but with practice and with the courage to understand and then the important part, FORGIVE ourselves, can we improve our bottom line in our investment accounts. The most important tip I learned was that we should make sure that our investment time horizon matches our expectations of where we think our account balance should be. For example, if there is more than five years until we expect that we will need our money from our investment accounts, then we should not be worried about what the balance is in our portfolio on a monthly or even yearly basis. If these two expectations don’t match, then expect to have trouble in justifying holding an investment that isn’t performing as we would like with our long term goals.
JB –
This is a great resource for even an amatuer investor like myself to make more thoughtful and educated decisions.
promethian –
This book would be excellent for the novice investor; it is basically a book about the dangers of investing by following the herd. Like so many books, the reality however is that ‘markets can remain irrational longer than an investor can remain solvent (a quote from John Maynard Keynes).’ And depressed markets can be ‘dead money’ for many years, even investing as a contrarian.Specific advice on exit points and entry points are difficult in real time, and a chapter devoted to that topic would be helpful. The point about people selling into crashes fails to acknowledge that many people are not in a position to continue to have their capital at risk, and a market that goes down 50% or more, can continue to go down; so some of that selling is not all due to psychology, but necessity. People often cannot invest much when stocks are doing poorly, if the economy is not doing well, and the person has lost their job. Being able to take advantage of these circumstances is an aspect of successful long term investor who can afford to add money to his investments when times are bad.For a novice investor, I would say this book would be five stars; for an experienced investor who has been reading books and articles over the years, not too much new here. Investing appeals to the independent streak by ignoring the cocktail party conversations, or even doing the opposite.This book is about how to think about financial markets from a psychosocial standpoint and is one of many excellent books on the topic.
William M. –
This is a deep dive into the intersection of finance and psychology with historical references that suggest, when it comes to money, we may not be getting any smarter. Nations highlights examples of very smart people making very bad financial decisions throughout history. We’re all “Anxious Investors”, though gaining some historical and behavioral perspective can help calm the nerves and keep us from sabotaging ourselves.
Neverfoldaces –
Scott does a great job of educating on two fronts: human behaviors that negatively affect investing decisions combined with fascinating historical examples. Well written and timely. Highly recommend to anyone who struggles when it’s hitting the fan!
Lawrence Shover –
A very good and great book for anyone who is trading or desires to trade. As Scott plainly describes, consistent/successful trading is not easy albeit some of the difficulty can be (potentially) mitigated by confronting our inner-most fears – the demons that hold us back. The book makes it abundantly apparent that Scott has had decades of his own “skin-in-the-game” and thus, he has no real vested interest in profiting from this book. It almost seems as though he wrote this as self-help for himself and his own trading success.
BJG –
Scott Nation’s latest book is a fun and enlightening read. I am looking forward to discussing it at our investment group meeting.
DaddyOCooljet –
I enjoyed reading the book very much. Unlike other books I’ve read about investing which contain a lot of hype, this book is a serious read about the subject of investing. The author goes through the many psychological pitfalls of investing and offers genuine suggestions of how to avoid the many costly mistakes that many of us unknowingly make. He also backs up his recommendations and suggestions with data and research. At the end of the book there is a list of hundreds of experts that the author collaborated with in an attempt to be as accurate, factual and thorough as possible. This book is a consequential read on ways to build and maintain a profitable portfolio without all the hype and ballyhoo contained in most of the investment books on the market these days. I came away from the read very much enlightened.
LexyRose –
Scott does a great job of describing the many pitfalls (biases) of investing. He uses historical market events to show where these biases have taken hold. Any type of investor can benefit from the many nuggets of good advice in this easy to read book.
k. –
Really enjoyed.
B. Fulk –
I’ve read several of Scott’s books and the Anxious Investor is another stellar read. His thorough knowledge of investing and the markets gives this “anxious investor” a better understanding of the history of the market (crashes) as well as guidance on how to navigate in uncertain times. Highly recommended.
Margie Muchin Goldblatt –
I USED THIS PRODUCT FOR MY OWN PERSONAL EDUCATION AND TO FURTHER MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE STOCK MARKET
Phil B –
Great book from Scott Nations that focuses on the behavioral side of investing, which is what matters the most. Critical to understand these concepts to become a successful trader. Highly recommended.
LWalsh –
This guide will help you get through market volatility. Nations has a a clear understanding of markets and peoples’ understanding of them. A good buy and great read.
LZ –
Lots of great advice on risk-taking, especially valuable in these volatile times.
Ron Denova –
The depth and perception of Scott’s writing comes from his vast experience, especially as a former floor trader for literally decades. The book will challenge us to remove the human instinct to see clearly as an investor/trader. Like “5 Crashes” he brings the historical facts of the subject manner. A must read for those of us who get in our own way when it comes to investing.
JC Kyrillos –
Nations presents a complex subject and explains it in a highly readable and often entertaining format. His stories of real people throughout history create vivid, easy to remember lessons. This book is helpful to novice and professional investors alike. Highly recommend. JC Kyrillos
Kris M –
Perfect book for everyday investors. Scott Nations does a great job connecting market conditions to investor psychology, which makes this book the ideal follow-up to his “History of the United States in Five Crashes.” Understanding how those events are repeated throughout history helps investors establish better game plans and avoid being paralyzed by fear. If you’re just starting and you think you’re not an anxious investor, then you’re probably just fooling yourself.
Amazon Customer –
What Scott is very good at is explaining complex issues in simple terms and making them into an interesting read. The value for me in this book was being able to identify with different emotionally driven behaviors and hopefully correct some going forward. Intuitively we all now that our mind can work against us in the investing game and it’s good to get some strategies to fight it.
Jeff Cravens –
Scott Nations has developed a terrific style in looking at macro topics in investing and providing excellent story telling to bring the reader along. Particularly in present time, and anxiety by investors drive so much of the decision making. Excellent read for anyone that has investments.
David J. Adelman –
Accessible to a generalist, with sufficient depth for a professional investor as well, Scott provides both an entertaining and a practical approach to investing. By highlighting and explaining inherent biases, the content will help make you a more disciplined and rigorous investor.
Jamie Catherwood –
I always recommend Scott’s previous book on the history of market crashes to anyone interested in learning more about financial history. Scott’s new book, “The Anxious Investor” is an incredible follow up. Through a mixture of behavioral finance, fascinating stories from history and more, Scott teaches invaluable investing lessons to all readers.
KeithC –
After enjoying his “History of the U.S. in Five Crashes,” I was looking forward to Nations’ next book. I was not disappointed. I found “The Anxious Investor” well researched, interesting and informative. New investors would benefit from becoming aware of the behavioral aspects of investing presented in the book. Likewise, those with more experience would be well advised to be reminded of biases in investing that they might be familiar with and to learn about some they may not realize they are subject to.
Dennis M. Patterson –
Scott Nations does not have the literary prowess of Jim Grant but he is a MUCH better investor. I always learn from SN and this book is no exception
Ken O. –
Scott Nations is a veteran of the markets and a trusted and reasonable voice on CNBC. Now more than ever — in fast-moving and highly volatile markets that operate in our very noisy 24/7 world — this book is needed. The takeaways Nations offers can save you countless dollars and sleepless nights, and ‘The Anxious Investor’ makes for a very entertaining, as well as educational, read. A book that will pay dividends long after you put it down.
chuckyduce –
The author does a great job describing the many thoughts that go through the head of the average investor and how to best manage them
Erin Martin –
Scott Nations has written a book that surprises in how he frames his storytelling amidst the wisdom offered. From the outset, learning about the South Sea Company in the 1720’s might seem an unusual choice to move into present day investor psychology, but it proves to be the perfect entry point. The Anxious Investor is a valuable resource for a look back at decision-making from an emotional POV and how we are hard-wired in many ways to use similar emotional triggers today. The metrics and the media may have changed, but human nature still is influenced by psychological wiring that we need to not only become aware of, but also push against in order to become more proficient at investing. A fun and valuable read.
Good Purchase –
I liked this book so much from the on-line library that I purchased it for a reference book.This book spoke directly to me as an anxious and emotional investor, rather than calculating and patient.
Jonathan Novy –
A perfect follow-up to Scott’s previous book. Scott blends a compelling narrative of market history with the everyday practical knowledge an investor needs to not make the kind of mistakes that can derail an investment plan.
MARK BATEMAN –
I am a terrible long-term investor. I know myself. As a former professional floor trader and all-around short-term degenerate speculator (gambler if you need that term), I know how my brain has been wired after almost 30 years in this arena.I thought this book would not be applicable to me but I was wrong. From page 168:”The first three chapters of this book have focused on the behavioral biases that make you so dangerous.”The psychology aspect itself is a wonderful part of this book and an ABSOLUTE GIFT of wisdom especially to those just starting out as young adults and life-long investors. Now in my fifties and after three decades as a short-term speculator, I have deep regret that I did not wear my “long-term investor hat” much more often over my lifetime. Hopefully this book will give some young people the chance to set their mind right early on in their lives to be a great investors over their life time.
John Case –
This is a most outstanding book on investing. It covers many of the bias that plague individual investors, and offers a check list to combat these biases.
Sean J Feeney –
Scott breaks down the behavioral psychology of investing clearly and succinctly in his latest book, The Anxious Investor.Read through some of the pitfalls and triumphs of investing … and come out a more prepared and intelligent investor for it!Scott’s writing style is easy to relate to, and his tips on what logical fallacies to avoid are essential to understanding not only how you think about investing … but how others can fall into similar traps …Can’t recommend highly enough!