A good financial education?

Steel_2

I'd like to learn more in-depth information about financial systems, economics and investing. I want to learn how it's all related and how money moves around and is created.

I spend time on this forum and others, read books, listen to relevant seminars and courses, but I'm learning slowly in tidbits as I find them. I feel like I'm ready to make a bigger jump and hit a topic intensely for a period of time, take a step back, apply what I've learnt if I can and then go again. Trouble is I don't know where to start.

Do I do a course through the OU?
Or through the CII?
Should I be looking at accountancy?

I should add this is for my own personal use and don't intend to switch careers into this area or advise anyone. It's purely to improve my fortunes over the next 20-30 years.

Any suggestions?

kidmugsy

This book predicted beforehand that the world was in the soup. Quite brilliant.

http://blog.mises.org/4126/warburtons-debt-and-delusion-back-in-print/

kidmugsy

This one saw the crash of 2000 coming.
http://www.valuingwallstreet.com/

It will teach you that shares don't always flourish in the long term - not if you buy them when they are poor value.

calypso_rhapsody

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson gives an interesting historical (up to pretty recently) overview.

Steel_2

Thanks Kid and calypso. Added those to my book list.

I was looking at some of the OU courses this morning on economics and financial planning, but they take quite a long time to complete. I like to learn fast and hit a subject hard for a short period of time.

A friend of mine is about to enter the final part of her accountancy qualifications and will be covering a lot of tax planning, so she's offered to distill some of it for me. She thinks having to sit down and run through some of it with me will be good to help her learn her stuff and prepare her for dealing with clients, and give me a lot of information I could springboard my learning off.

I was self-employed for five years and am sure I will be again one day. I guess I want to have the knowledge to spot a good opportunity that I should grab when it appears.

Nukumai

Steel wrote: »

Do I do a course through the OU?
Or through the CII?
Should I be looking at accountancy?
I should add this is for my own personal use and don't intend to switch careers into this area or advise anyone. It's purely to improve my fortunes over the next 20-30 years.
Any suggestions?

Steel - If you wish to take your knowledge to the next level, my initial advice to you would be to get yourself a good understanding of (in my recommended order) compound-interest, the risk/reward relationship, and risk diversification. Much of this type of knowledge can be gained by way of reading books or browsing the internet. Then move onto the Efficient Markets Theory and Utility Theory.

Although all of the above has a mathematical foundation, you do not need to dig that deep - just get yourself a good grounding in the basics. From my own perspective, it was my reading of a relatively cheap Australasian-published paperback that gave me my 'light-bulb' moment regarding the accumulation of wealth (compounding, in particular). The book in question was called Money Made Simple (by Noel Whittaker). Having said this, do not go chasing after this particular book unless you feel so inclined..this very basic book just happened to 'click' for me, even though I had already qualified as a Chartered Investment Analyst and was working as a Research Analyst/Advisor in stockbroking.

There are, I am sure, other books out there that give the same message and are probably easier to get a hold of (there is also a lot of crap, so choose carefully).

If you feel that you have the motivation to go beyond the basics, I'd certainly recommend that you pursue some accountancy-related studies (I'm also a Chartered Accountant by training), though this is in no way essential to gaining a good knowledge of money and investments.

Remember, too, that no amount of theory or knowledge, though, will guarantee that you avoid many of the lessons that can only be gained via hard experience. The good news is that time is on your side - you have, as you say, a 20-30 year outlook. This is plenty of time to recover from most of the minor 'mistakes' you will inevitably make along the way.

Good luck.

TrickyDicky101

This is a great little book which I found very interesting when i first bought it (many years ago):

The Money Machine - How the City Works

Zoran_Ilievski

I'll recommend three books:

The Richest Man in Babylon
Fooled by Randomness
Rich Dad Poor Dad

Some people will laugh at the last one. The author is a little controversial and not everything he says about himself in the book is necessarily true. But it's still a good read, from a motivational perspective.

kidmugsy

Also
Stuart Fowler

"No Monkey Business"

Steel_2

Nukumai - thanks for those recommendations. I know I will make mistakes, but ideally having the knowledge behind me will make them small ones. Right now they would be whacking great big ones.

Tricky-dicky - that book has got some great reviews - I really like it when finance professionals say they have learnt something new.

Zoran - actually Rich Dad Poor Dad introduced me to a concept I had never considered - investing for cash flow not capital gains. Now I look at everything around me in a new light.

Cheers Kidmugsy!

I have to say, my basket is looking pretty full on Amazon at the moment

Thanks everyone.

cepheus

This is one of the best, although it is about 10 years old now.

How to read the Financial pages

Short Description for How To Read The Financial Pages Stripping away the mystique from the world of investment and finance, this title is a layman's guide to reading and understanding the financial press and the markets and events it covers. This title provides an explanation of the workings of the financial world - from money markets to commodity markets, investment ratios to takeover bids