References

Books (Sorted Best to Ok):

• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley & William Danko - The title can mislead one into thinking it's a self-help book but it is so far from it. This book is really a presentation of findings after interviewing countless millionaires in the states and how they got to where they are. Besides the obvious lesson of spend less than you make, I quite enjoyed the part about how to raise financially-savvy children. Awesome read.
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason - After loading myself up on so many personal finance books, this one feels a bit elementary. However, I put this high on the list because it is enlightening to know that the basics of personal finance (i.e. save 10%, put money to work, control spending, etc) dates all the way back to Babylonian era.
• The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham - This is a very heavy read. Although it does provide some pointers for Passive Investors like myself, this book would better benefit Active Investors as it dives deep into company selection. Note I said company selection and not stock selection.
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle - This book gives almost a cult-like support to index fund and bashing every other form of investing (namely stock picking & mutual funds). It does back up its claims with hard facts but damn, dude just runs everything else to the ground.
• Man vs Money by Stewart Cowley - Funny enough, this was recommended to me as an introduction to economics. Maybe it would be to an economics minor, but my head got properly twisted a few times while combing through the 220 pages. A good read nonetheless.
• A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel - This book basically takes stabs at fund managers (i.e mutual funds & hedge funds) and celebrates index funds as the better choice of long term investing.
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey - If you are heavy in debt and desperately find a way out of the hole, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Fantastic no-nonsense step by step guide to turning your net worth from negative to positive. However, I feel his book is only good once you gotten out of debt, period. To further build wealth, I would look elsewhere as his advice can seem a bit outdated.
• I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi - This is a very basic book that runs through step by step lessons on how to get rich (i.e. spend less & earn more). It is quite targeted at the US audience so it gets a bit hard to connect to the book at times. However, I'll definitely revisit this book purely for the part on asking your boss for a raise.

Podcast:

• Rational Reminder - As the title suggests, this weekly podcast does very well to remind me not to stray from my investment strategy. Stick to your strategy, be diversified, & stay invested. This is especially useful during bear markets.
• BFM 89.9 - Our local Malaysian business radio. Besides the finance-related content, I mainly like its non-biased take on everything that is going on locally.
• Planet Money - This one still relates to economics but far less removed from personal finance. A good listen when I need a break from constantly listening to investment tips.
• Freakonomics - People have pop music to unwind, and I have this. Awesome take on the economics of well, everything!

Others:

• Malaysia Unit Trust vs ETF, which one is Better Performing? - This one is a sobering reminder that blindly holding onto index funds is not always a good idea. Sure it works in USA but in Malaysia for example, mutual funds do in fact outperform the index despite being weighed down by management fees. Maybe Malaysian stocks are a bit more predictable?
• Asset Allocation - 100% EQ vs 90/10 EQ/FI vs 80/20 EQ/FI? - This backtest puts to rest the debate between have 100% Equity (EQ) vs allocating some assets into Fixed Income (FI) with frequent re-balancing. The 100% EQ portfolio comes up the clear winner HOWEVER, by not much. This 'by not much' conclusion is important because although the 100% EQ comes up on top, the journey is incredibly volatile compared to an EQ/FI portfolio. If one cannot stomach the volatility of having everything in EQ and have the tendency to panic sell when the market crashes, it may be highly advisable to pick a EQ/FI portfolio (with frequent re-balancing).