Professor Money Bear

Reading List

Ron’s list of preferred readings for individual investors and university students engaging with investments and financial planning.

For Consumers

  • Free Training Courses:
    • Develop Your Excel Skills. Visit for some links to some free courses.
    • “You Need a Budget” software and training: free for six months, for college students!
    • MoneyGuide Pro and eMoney financial planning software – online free training for college students. See the financial planning faculty member at your institution for access.
  • Books:
    • The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Samuel Clason (in the public domain; PDF versions of this book are available for free, online)
    • Common Sense on Mutual Funds, by John C. (“Jack”) Bogle
    • The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham
    • A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton Malkiel
    • The New Retirementality: Planning Your Life and Living Your Dreams…at Any Age You Want (2020 edition) By Mitch Anthony
    • The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley
  • Personal and Professional Development
    • Dr. James Maas: Sleep for Success (12:06)
    • Dr. Maas on Sleeping for Success (3:47)
    • What a Good Night’s Sleep Does for the Brain (2:28)
    • Marcus Taylor / Why Expand Comfort Zones (5:51)
    • Sunnier Days Sesame Street PBS NEWSHOUR / Self-Control (9:36)
    • The Time You Have (in Jelly Beans) (2:44)
    • Charlie on Procrastination (4:18)
    • Grit / Angela Lee Duckworth (6:12)
    • Big Talk (6:24)
    • The Skill of Self-Confidence / Dr. Ivan Joseph (13:21)
    • 100 Days Without Fear / Michelle Poler  (15:00)
    • Look Up / Gary Turk (put down your phone) (4:59)
    • “If this video doesn’t convince you to put down your phone, nothing probably will” (3:28)
    • 8 secrets of success / Richard St. John (3:25)
    • An Experiment in Gratitude: The Science of Happiness (7:13)
    • Oprah’s Gratitude Journal Oprah’s Lifeclass (3:38)
    • Shawn Achor / Happiness Advantage (12:29)
    • What makes a good life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness (12:46)
    • Stacy Kramer: The best gift I ever survived (3:17)

Financial Advisors and Economists

  • Books:
    • Storytelling for Financial Advisors, by Scott West and Mitch Anthony
    • Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions, by Gerd Gigernzer
    • Advice That Sticks: How to give financial advice that people will follow, by Moira Somers
    • Financial Planning 3.0, by Dick Wagner
    • The Behavior Gap, by Carl Richards
    • Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter, by Dan Ariely
    • Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street, by Peter Bernstein
    • The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, by William Bernstein
    • Winning the Loser’s Game (7th edition, 2017), by Charles D. Ellis
  • For New Insights and Trends:
    • Bob Veres’ Inside Information – incredible insights into the profession, from this long-time thought leaders. He also puts together a list of “Media Reviews” each week – that point to the best articles to read from Michael Kitces and Advisor Perspectives. Very useful and a great time saver! Definitely worth the subscription price!
    • Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View Blog. Consider subscribing (for free) to, and reading each week, Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View “Weekend Reading.” Michael Kitces is the most widely-read commentator in the personal financial planning space today, and I have always found his analysis (and that of his co-authors and contributors) to be timely, practical, and informative.
    • Advisor Perspectives has some excellent articles. Subscribe (for free) to receive emails of new articles, commentaries that are posted. The Discussion Boards on articles can be quite illuminating, as well. After subscribing (free basic membership to Advisor Perspectives; premium memberships unlock more content), check out AP Viewpoint for some very interesting (and at times lively) discussions regarding investment theories, economic trends, and more.
    • ThinkAdvisor. Many traditional magazines in the investment space have lost their way, but ThinkAdvisor successfully transformed itself. It contains several valuable articles in its online edition.
    • RIABiz. As the title indicates, the site focuses more on the deals and business strategies arising in the registered investment adviser space. Great articles provide insights into what RIA firms, and the vendors that support them, are up to.
  • For Economists:
    • Mauldin Economics: Go to “Our Publications” then “Free Publications” and subscribe to his “Thoughts from the Frontline”
    • Aswath Damodaran’s Musings on Markets: This NYU finance professor offers some valuable insights. A bit more technical oriented than many, but the insights will challenge you, and the posts are well worth the read!
    • Econobrowser: Various articles from several different authors about current economic conditions and government policy, often “digging deeper” into some of the economic issues of the day.
    • Marginal Revolution: – lots of articles from this “progressive-leaning” economic web site.
    • The Grumpy Economist  – John Cochrane’s blog provides insights into both his current writings, as well as occasional posts about current economic themes.