The 10 Best Books About Investing That Are Actually Worth Reading | arvy
November 22, 2025
5 min read
📚 arvy's Book Club · Quick Selection
arvy's Teaser: There are hundreds of books about money. Most are repetitive, some outdated, many trying to sell you something. Here are the 10 that genuinely make a difference — the must-read quick selection for anyone who wants to invest well. From absolute beginner to seasoned investor. If you want more: → The comprehensive Top 21 with snippet-ready summaries
This list vs. our Top 21:
→ This Top 10: The classics for Quality Investors. Compact, scannable, focused on the Buffett/Munger school and beginners.
→ The Top 21: The holistic list for a financially free life. Deep, snippet-ready, broader (including Ikigai, Just Keep Buying, The 5 Types of Wealth).
1All
The Psychology of Money — Morgan Housel
No book of the last 10 years has better explained why investing has less to do with mathematics and more with behaviour. In 19 short chapters, Housel tells stories about people and money — and shows why a janitor can die with CHF 8 million while a Harvard MBA goes bankrupt. The central lesson: your behaviour with money matters more than your knowledge about money.
→ Why patience is the most important quality in investing. → arvy's full review
2All
Die Kunst, über Geld nachzudenken — André Kostolany
The legend of European stock markets. No American, no academic — a Hungarian speculator who lived to 93 and left behind market wisdom that still works today. His writing style is witty, personal and full of anecdotes from 70 years of market experience. No other book conveys so well why patience is the most important virtue on the stock exchange.
→ "Buy stocks, take sleeping pills, and after many years you'll see: you're rich."
3Interm.
One Up On Wall Street — Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch managed the Magellan Fund at Fidelity from 1977 to 1990 — with 29% annual returns. His book isn't a textbook but a practical guide: how do you find good stocks in your everyday life? Lynch argues that ordinary people have an advantage over Wall Street analysts — because you know the products you use daily better than any fund manager.
4All
The Millionaire Next Door — Thomas Stanley & William Danko
Most millionaires in America drive used cars, live in unassuming houses and work in boring industries. 20 years of research, thousands of interviews, one result: wealth doesn't come from high income but from low spending and consistent investing.
5Beginner
Rich Dad Poor Dad — Robert Kiyosaki
The best-selling personal finance book of all time. The central idea: your house is not an asset — it costs you money. Real assets put money in your pocket. "The poor work for money. The rich let money work for them." A word of caution: Kiyosaki's specific investment advice is controversial — take the mindset, not the details.
6Beginner
The Richest Man in Babylon — George S. Clason
Written in 1926, set in ancient Babylon, and yet the most relevant finance book for beginners. In short parables, the basics: "Pay yourself first." "Make your gold work for you." "Protect your wealth from loss." Read in 2 hours, lasts a lifetime. The principles are 4,000 years old and still work — because human behaviour with money never changes.
→ The perfect first step before diving into ETFs and 3a. → Start a savings plan
7All
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing — John C. Bogle
John Bogle invented the index fund. In this slim book he explains why. Every franc you pay in fees is a franc not working for you. Over 30 years, 1.5% in fees consumes a third of your wealth. Bogle uses data to show why investing cheaply and broadly is almost always right.
→ The power of low costs over long time horizons. → arvy fees: what you actually pay
8Interm.
Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
Nobel laureate Kahneman explains why our brain systematically makes wrong decisions — and why this becomes particularly expensive when investing. Loss aversion: a CHF 1,000 loss feels 2.5× more painful than a CHF 1,000 gain feels good. That's why we sell too early and buy too late.
→ Why automation — like a savings plan — is the best protection against your own brain.
9Advanced
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator — Edwin Lefèvre
First published in 1923. The thinly veiled story of Jesse Livermore, one of the most famous Wall Street speculators. Insights on market psychology, timing and discipline that are still quoted 100 years later. A literary masterpiece that reads like a novel.
→ "It was never my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting."
10Advanced
Richer, Wiser, Happier — William Green
25 years of interviews with the world's best investors — Mohnish Pabrai, Howard Marks, Sir John Templeton, Charlie Munger. Not a collection of strategies but of mindsets. The best investors aren't the cleverest — they're the most disciplined. Simple rules often work better than complex models.
→ Investing, properly understood, makes you not only richer but also wiser and happier.
Which book first?
→ Want to go deeper?
The comprehensive Top 21: with Lesson, Summary & arvy's Take per book
This Top 10 is the quick selection. If you want to go deeper — per book one answer in one sentence, the most important lesson, arvy's take for Swiss investors, and "if you take only one thing away" — read our comprehensive list of the 21 best investment books of all time. Including Ikigai, Just Keep Buying and The 5 Types of Wealth.
To the comprehensive Top 21 →You'll find more book recommendations in the arvy Bookclub — where we regularly discuss books our team has read.
Further reading
→ The comprehensive Top 21 with snippet-ready summaries
→ arvy Bookclub — all book reviews
→ How Quality Investing works and why arvy invests this way
"And once you've finished reading: the most important thing is to start. Not tomorrow. Now."
Done reading? Now act.
Set up a savings plan. Open a Pillar 3a. Quality Investing in the world's 30 best companies. Compound interest does the rest.
Start savings plan | Open 3aThis article was written by Thierry Borgeat, Co-Founder of arvy, and reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA, and Florian Jauch, CFA.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute personal investment advice. Amazon links are affiliate links. arvy is a FINMA-supervised asset manager.
