A few weeks ago a wrote a review of the short free ebook on saving and investing by Dr. William J. Bernstein. I thought the book was a very good but short.

I remembered that I had read Bernstein’s The Four Pillars of Investing and still had it on my bookshelf. And as I recalled it covered similar information as the free ebook but in more detail. In the free book he would tell you what he thought best and give a brief explanation. In the longer The Four Pillars of Investing, he has the space to tell you why he thinks the proposed actions are good in more detail and a bit of history behind his recommendations.

I have since learned that there is an updated version of The Four Pillars of Investing. The one I had read several years ago and just re-read was the 2002 first edition. There is now a 2010 edition. But judging from the comments on Amazon, the newer edition appears to be the same as 2002 edition with a postscript to cover the events between the 2 editions.

William Bernstein has also published several other books on investing and related areas of history. So you might want to visit Dr Bernstein’s Amazon page to see which of his books you think most interesting and appropriate.

I find it encouraging that his ideas are still good after the financial melt-down of the past few years. The ideas in his 2014 ebook are essentially similar to the 2002 edition of The Four Pillars of Investing (and the 2010 edition of the 4 pillars book).

His plan for investing is relatively simple, but it is not always easy to follow since the ups and downs of the market can make it difficult to stick with your plan. But even if the implementation is only partial you will be better off in the long-term.

So I highly recommend The Four Pillars of Investing but would suggest reading the free ebook first to see if you like William J. Bernstein’s writing and the type of advise he gives.