From the Inside Flap
From February 2001 through March 2010, an investment in a well-run index fund like Vanguard Total Stock Market would have earned you an annual return of less than 2%. The same investment in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway would have netted 6.25% on average per year. Had you invested in Mike Koza's portfolio, your total return would have averaged 34% per year.
Who's Mike Koza? He's a civil engineer for the Sacramento County Department of Waste Management. He's also one of a growing number of armchair investors taking control of their investment portfolios and routinely beating the Street's biggest names. The Warren Buffetts Next Door is Mike Koza's story, and the stories of nine others like him. And it's your guidebook should you decide to take control of your financial future.
In The Warren Buffetts Next Door: The World's Greatest Investors You've Never Heard of and What You Can Learn from Them, Forbes's Matthew Schifrin provides case studies of ten successful investors--everyday people--who are investing in themselves, and in the process, experiencing extraordinary returns. Schifrin details their personal stories, along with their investment strategies, trading philosophies, and rules for investing. You'll learn about:
- CHRISTOPHER REES, who spent close to thirty years of his life roaming from one town to the next working at any job that would pay him enough to continue his travels. Since October 2000, his investments have seen an average annual return of 25% versus 0.21% for the S&P 500
- JACK WEYLAND, a former truck driver whose average annual return since July 2002 is 36% vs. 7% for the S&P 500
- ALAN T. HILL, a retired educational software executive whose cumulative return since July 2005 is 1,026% vs. 28% for the S&P 500
There are more than fifty million online investors. Many of these "amateurs" are achieving professional results without the professional commissions. Their names may never be on the level of a Buffett or a Bogle, but people like Koza, Rees, Weyland, and Hill aren't out to make a name for themselves. They're out to make enough money to enjoy a lifestyle of their choosing. And that's exactly what they're doing. And with The Warren Buffetts Next Door, it's what you can do, as well.
The only real prerequisite to becoming a good investor is committing the time to educate yourself. The Warren Buffetts Next Door offers timeless advice and inspiration for any investor hoping to profit by investing in themselves.
MATTHEW SCHIFRIN is Vice President and Investing Editor at Forbes Media LLC. He oversees money, investing, and personal finance content in Forbes magazine and on Forbes.com, including its Intelligent Investing and Financial Adviser Network. Schifrin also manages Forbes Newsletter Group and Forbes iConferences, and was the founding editor of Forbes.com's Best of the Web. As an investigative reporter, his articles have been featured on the cover of Forbes magazine dozens of times and he has been a finalist for an American Society of Magazine Editors National Magazine Award. Schifrin is a frequent speaker at investor conferences and has appeared numerous times on radio and television.
