"Chances are, if you pick the right blue-chip dividend-paying stock and hold it for over forty to fifty years, you should have a nice financial cushion after that time."
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Investment Strategies for Life by Walter E. Simmons III Trafford Publishing
book review by Michael Radon
Seeking to break the mold of investment books by not just discussing the advantages to a diverse portfolio and basic strategies to follow, this book takes things a step further by recommending specific stocks. The author relates his own long-term experience with investing as a hobby and a means to provide some extra financial relief for himself and his family, and breaks down his own holdings as they compare to the tactics he suggests. With a focus on secure, long-term holdings that pay dividends, this book doesn't outline a plan to get rich quick, but rather something anybody can do no matter how old they are or how much money they make to give themselves something that will appreciate in value and keep people from falling on hard times no matter what the economy does.
For the most part, the language in the book is easy for anybody just getting their start in investing to understand and follow from start to finish. There is an enthusiasm in the text that makes people who might have otherwise steered away from investing for fear of its complexity. There isn't just one method covered here, either. Several investment approaches are outlined, weighing the pros and cons of each, including options that casual investors may not consider like putting their money in foreign stocks or getting on the ground floor of an Initial Public Offering (IPO). More than anything else, this is a book about being responsible with money and putting it to creative use in order to have a comfortable retirement or just enjoy the thrills of researching and engaging in the stock market.