What I Read (And Why)

We are in the golden age of financial information.

There is more high-quality financial writing today than ever before, written by a more diverse group of writers than has ever existed.

But there is far too much to read. The volume of financial information could drop by 99% and you still couldn't read a fraction of what's out there.

Everyone needs a filter, which requires having a curated list of go-to writers.

Here's a list of people I go out of my way to read (I know I'm forgetting many -- sorry).

Ben Carlson (A Wealth of Common Sense)

Who he is: Portfolio manager at an endowment fund
What he writes: Investing observations that seem like common sense until you realize you had never thought about investing that way before reading his article.
Why you should read him: He bats pretty close to a thousand in terms of quality. Every article is worth reading.

Sam Lee (Morningstar)

Who he is: Analyst at Morningstar
What he writes: Really smart takes on ETFs, with an occasional killer piece about general investment wisdom.
Why you should read him: His article "Losing My Religion" is one of the best investment articles I've ever read.

Tadas Viskantas (AbnormalReturns.com)

Who he is: Private investor
What he writes: The best link aggregation of financial content in the world.
Why you should read him: You could only visit Tadas's site and stay informed. If anyone in the financial world writes a good article, Tadas will link to it.

Michael Batnick (The Irrelevant Investor)

Who he is: Director of research, Ritholtz Wealth Management
What he writes: Pithy investing observations, market history, sarcastic tweets
Why you should read him: Came out of the middle of nowhere a year or two ago and is already one of the sharpest writers in finance.

Jesse Livermore (pseudonym) (Philosophical Economics)

Who he is: No one knows (blogs anonymously to protect his day job).
What he writes: Long-form takedowns of widely held investing misconceptions.
Why you should read him: He'll make you feel stupid no matter who you are.Everyone I've talked to says the same thing: "Oh my gosh, he's the smartest guy I've ever read."

Derek Thompson (The Atlantic)

Who he is: Senior editor, The Atlantic
What he writes: The economics of everyday life.
Why you should read him: One of maybe seven people alive who can write about economics in a way that doesn't put you to sleep.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy (Millennial Invest)

Who he is: Portfolio manager, O'Shaughnessy Asset Management
What he writes: Broad investment trends and philosophies backed with some of the best historical data you'll ever see.
Why you should read him: Brilliant, succinct, and a great writer. Uses complicated data and explains it in a way anyone can understand.

Tren Griffin (25iq)

Who he is: Works for Microsoft
What he writes: Lists of a dozen things he's learned from other smart people.
Why you should read him: Understands better than anyone that the way you get smarter is to learn vicariously through other people, rather than trying to learn everything on your own.

Bill McBride (Calculated Risk)

Who he is: Blogger, former senior executive at a technology company
What he writes: The best economics blog ever written, filled with charts and data, utterly free of bias and opinion.
Why you should read him: Has a great track record of calling economic trends, yet remains one of the humblest writers out there.

Eddy Elfenbein (Crossing Wall Street)

Who he is: Investor, blogger,hilarious guy.
What he writes: Smart takes about individual companies, market history, and investing trends.
Why you should read him: Finds the most obscure-but-fascinating historical market data points you'll ever see.

Shane Parrish (Farnam Street)

Who he is: "Entrepreneur, author, and wisdom seeker."
What he writes: Some of the most brilliant observations about life, work, and investing, curated from some of the smartest minds in history.
Why you should read him: He reads more than anyone else you know and shares everything he learns.

Annie Lowrey (NY Mag)

Who she is: One of the best economic journalists in the business.
What she writes: The economics of everything from Bitcoin, to fast-food wages, to applying for college.
Why you should read her: Writes about complicated and important topics in a way anyone can understand without watering it down.

Josh Brown (Reformed Broker)

Who he is: CEO, Ritholtz Wealth Management
What he writes: Dissects the world of investing, economics, and financial advice in a way that is as hilarious as it is brilliant.
Why you should read him: Has bridged the gap between presenting high-quality information in an entertaining way better than anyone in the business.

David Leonhardt (New York Times)

Who he is: Long-time economic columnist
What he writes: In-depth, incredibly informative pieces about everything from wealth inequality to healthcare costs to soda taxes.
Why you should read him: Won the Pulitzer Prize

Jason Zweig (The Wall Street Journal)

Who he is: Legendary financial journalist
What he writes: Some of the wisest investing columns ever written.
Why you should read him: One of the leading experts on Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham.

James Osborne (Bason Asset Management)

Who he is: Fee-only financial adviser
What he writes: Smart pieces about what's wrong with the asset-management business.
Why you should read him: Has the writing skills of any good journalist, but speaks from first-hand experience, rather than research.

James Surowiecki (The New Yorker)

Who his is: Long-time business columnist
What he writes: Enlightening, fact-based takes on the most important business stories of the day.
Why you should read him: Fits more information into 800 words than most people can in 10,000.

Cullen Roche (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Who he is: Blogger, financial consultant
What he writes: In-depth economic and investing pieces about topics you probably never thought about but should.
Why you should read him: Has demolished more economic myths than anyone I know.

Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture)

Who he is: Chief investment officer, Ritholtz Wealth Management
What he writes: Smart, honest, no-holds-barred investment and economic articles.
Why you should read him: Incapable of sugar-coating stories he's passionate about, which makes for some of the most informative and eye-opening columns.

Justin Wolfers (New York Times)

Who he is: Economist, Peterson Institute, professor, University of Michigan
What he writes: Thoughtful columns about the most important economic issues of the day, with heavy amounts of data.
Why you should read him: Ask 10 investors who their favorite economist is these days, and at least seven will say "Justin Wolfers."

Carl Richards (Behavior Gap)

Who he is: Author, financial planner
What he writes: How bad investing behavior leads to terrible results, often showed through napkin sketches.
Why you should read him: Few people have conveyed such important investing information in a format that is as accessible and understandable as Carl.

Planet Money (NPR)

What they are: One of the best podcasts about money and economics.
What they record: Short (20-ish minutes) episodes that explain how something you never thought of (t-shirt manufacturing, produce shipping) is affecting your life.
Why you should listen to them: I'm astounded at how they keep coming up with great ideas week after week. There are almost no bad episodes.

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