What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars is easily one of the most underrated investment books I’ve come across. The book was actually first published in the early 1990s but re-released a few years ago. It tells the story of Jim Paul, a former futures trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who made a sizeable amount of money at a young age, but lost it all following a series of bad breaks and poor choices.
It’s one of the most honest investment books I’ve ever read. It deals with hubris, overconfidence, luck and the multitude of psychological factors we’re all forced to deal with when trying to make rational decisions.
I’m a huge fan of the mindset of process over outcomes and this book is full of useful nuggets of wisdom on this subject. I go back through my highlights from this book on regular basis. What follows are some of my favorites.
Why people make poor decisions:
People lose money in the markets either because of errors in their analysis or because of psychological factors that prevent the application of the analysis.
Experience can be overrated:
Experience is the worst teacher. It gives the test before giving the lesson.
More here – A Wealth Of Common Sense
