"Public companies are everywhere, and they surround you from morning to night. . . . Nearly everything you eat, wear, read, listen to, ride in, lie on, or gargle with is made by one. Perfume to penknives, hot tubs to hot dogs, nuts to nail polish are made by businesses that you can own." --from the Introduction.

McDonald's, The Gap, Circuit City, Gillette, CBS, and thousands more . . . anybody can own part of big and small companies. As companies grow and prosper, you can too. Whenever burgers are eaten, sweaters are purchased, batteries are used, and faces are shaved, you've got a piece of the action. From Alexander Hamilton to Warren Buffett, people have been making big money by investing in the corporations and institutions around them.

Mutual-fund superstar Peter Lynch and author John Rothchild explain what's not normally taught in high school --how the stock market helps you and how it helps the country. By understanding how and why the stock market works when you buy a share of a company or purchase a mutual fund, you can make informed --and profitable --decisions. Whether you're saving for college, a house, a trip, or retirement, there is no better method to secure a sound financial future than to invest. Young or old, there is no better time to start investing than now.

"Investing is fun. It's interesting.

It can put you on the road to prosperity for the rest of your life. . . ."

Learn to Earn gives you the expert guidance you need to make the right start. Lynch and Rothchild cover the gamut on investment fundamentals and principles, from choosing stocks, to picking a broker, to reading an annual report. Learn to Earn reveals how to decipher the stock pages and how to evaluate the pros and cons of the five basic investment vehicles --savings accounts, collectibles, houses or apartments, stocks, and bonds. Yet, there is much more to investing than just the principles, and there is much more to Learn to Earn than just the fundamentals. Opportunity comes in many forms, from many sources, with many histories. Brimming with stories and parables, Lynch and Rothchild also explain:
* Why the world as we know it would collapse without investors . . .
* How capitalism, from the time of the American Revolution on, has shaped the past, and how that affects us today . . .
* How Coke, Campbell's Soup, Ben & Jerry's, Microsoft, and other big companies got started, who gets rich from them, and how they got that way . . .
* How to know the real story behind the price of a stock

ISBN13: 9780471180036

Condition: New

Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Average Customer Review: ( 68 customer reviews )
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If your teenaged child is open to it, why not do precisely what this book suggests -- the two of you could join an investment club and learn about investing together. You could buy stock as custodian for your child each time the club meets. If you attend the meetings together it will rapidly teach your child the wisdom of saving and investing.

This book is marginally useful for adults. I bought 2 copies with the intention of giving one to my elder daughter and learning a bit about investing myself from the second. My 401K plan is doing so well I would like to start investing on my own.

There is too much history for adults looking to start investing. It ought to be replaced with more how-to advice -- such as how to read a balance sheet. There is an appendix chapter on this, but it could be greatly expanded.

The book could use updating on internet resources of use to investors. For example, I'd like to find software that will help me manage and track stock picks as I begin the training part which is so important to successful investing. Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Money used to have an excellent stock portfolio manager. I'd love to see something like this again which can automatically update portfolios with closing prices. I'm sure there is software out there -- but the book doesn't point out good software titles!

In short, this 5-year old book is a useful introduction geared for young readers. Adults already interested in investing can check it for useful advice. It badly needs updating to reflect investing now in the last year of the decade. Perhaps revisions could be posted to the web in addition to selling a revised print version.

39 of 39 found the following review helpful:

Not for anyone else but beginners.Mar 14, 1999

This is an excellent book for young readers and beginners in finance and investments. The first part of the book covers American Economic History. It then goes on to describe the effects of time value of money as well as the historical upward trend of the market. This is very encouraging for those who are skeptics of the stock market. But this book does not cover any valuation models and in lacks depth to its coverage of fundamental analysis. If you are looking to learn more about investing from scratch, here's a good start. But, make sure that this is not the only book you will read in investing.

31 of 31 found the following review helpful:

A brilliant starting point for new investorsNov 27, 1999
By Kevin Earl
This book was absolutely excellent. Not only was it very readable, it is also written in easy to understand investment terms. It should be required reading for all high-school students. Provides an excellent "kick in the pants" incentive for people to get into the great world of stocks and mutual funds. The first half of the book gives a fine history of how the stock market got started and the second half explains the hows and whys of investing. The best thing about this book is it makes you want to invest and that's always a good thing, particularly if you go into it for the long term.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Awesome for beginners!Nov 21, 2001
By kiko "theory7000"
My friend lent me this book and I'm so glad he did. I'm a beginner in investing and didn't have a clue about stocks or investing. This book was very concise and clearly written for a beginner investor. I've tried to read other books and either got bored or confused and stopped reading. This one I couldn't put down...so easy to read! I learned A LOT! The chapter on the history of capitalism was also interesting and helpful -- even for someone with a bachelor's in economics. I plan to buy my own copy! Most importantly, it taught me the importance of NOT spending money and investing in it instead!!! AFter reading the book, I stopped wasting money! I plan to read more of Peter Lynch's books!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Yup, this one is for beginners...Jul 13, 2000
By Gr33n4blu3 "La leche se arde."
But that doesn't mean that it should be ignored. If you don't have much investment experience, this is probably the book you should start with. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a chapter on the raw data manipulation that need to be performed to determine if a company is a buy.

Lynch gives a very good history of the stock market in Learn to Earn, but with that title I must say that the history was misplaced. This book gives a lot of great pointers, like getting involved in companies you know, and also the section on DRIPS was interesting.

It was entirely appropriate for Lynch to include some raw basics in the book, such as how to start accumulating money to buy your companies. And the fact that he pointed out that the stock market is not a place for people who can't stomach daily fluctuations in portfolio value.

For beginners this book is great. For anyone with a little experience this book is worth reading just for background and reassurance that the market has some semblance of order to it. However, for anyone who is an experienced investor or who knows how to evaluate equity, then this book could be tedious and unnecessary.

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