The 3% Signal: The Investing Technique That Will Change Your Life - Softcover

Kelly, Jason

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142180955 ISBN 13: 9780142180952

Publisher: Plume, 2015

Synopsis

Take the stress out of investing with this revolutionary new strategy from the author of The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing, now in its fifth edition
 
In today's troubling economic times, the quality of our retirement depends upon our own portfolio management. But for most of us, investing can be stressful and confusing, especially when supposedly expert predictions fail. Enter The 3% Signal. Simple and effective, Kelly's plan can be applied to any type of account, including 401(k)s -- and requires only fifteen minutes of strategizing per quarter. No stress. No noise. No confusion.
 
By targeting three percent growth and adjusting holdings to meet that goal, even novice investors can level the financial playing field and ensure a secure retirement free from the stress of noisy advice that doesn't work. The plan's simple technique cuts through the folly of human emotion by reacting intelligently to price changes and automatically buying low and selling high. Relayed in the same easy-to-understand language that has made The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing such a staple in the investing community, The 3% Signal is sure to become your most trusted guide to investing success. 

About this title

From the Author:

Two New Terms from the Book

3Sig: Shorthand for "The 3% Signal," both the book's title and the technique it describes.

Z-val: Shorthand introduced in The 3% Signal for"zero-validity forecasters" and "zero-validity environment." The latterphrase was coined by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, where he wrote that "stock pickers and political scientists who makelong-term forecasts operate in a zero-validity environment. Theirfailures reflect the basic unpredictability of the events that they tryto forecast." This is why stock market forecasters are proven to sportan accuracy rate of about 50 percent, same as a coin toss ... yet theycontinue forecasting.

Quote from the Book

"You'll discover how to check inquarterly to see whether the stock fund's growth is below target, ontarget, or above target, then move money in the appropriate directionbetween the stock fund and the bond fund. This action, using theunperturbed clarity of prices alone, automates the investmentmasterstroke of buying low and selling high -- with no z-val interference of any kind."

Reader Review Highlights

"3Sig is, in my opinion, a move to improve upon dollar-cost averaging and indexing. While I am oversimplifying 3Sig by saying that, and there is more to it, I think that vaguely explains the idea to the uninitiated reader. By and large, I do believe that Kelly has mostly succeeded in this improvement." -- Scott W. McMurray II

"In Kelly's model, prices tell you exactly how to adjust things so that you do buy low and sell high atgiven intervals -- and without deluding yourself that you can predictwhat the market will do." -- David G. Deutsch

"I trade options for a living (my own account). After reading the book I am now using his strategy on a portion of my portfolio. Overall, the strategy is good for the passive investor or full time trader. If anyone is skeptical, you may like to know that I have backtested Kelly's 3% strategy versus many other strategies (Covered Calls, Selling Puts, etc) and his strategy constantly outperforms over the long run." -- John Wilson

"This is the one and only book I recommend relative to equities because, frankly, it's perfect. You quit listening, and start managing. Systematically. Four times per year. Meanwhile, you spend your newfound time on the rest of your life and leave your money stress behind." -- Lovelee

"I finally feel that I have near mechanical answers to philosophical questions that have confounded me, such as: If you want to buy low and sell high, how do you know when to sell? (The answer comes primarily from running a simple calculation once every quarter, with notable exceptions that dictate when you should just sit on your hands and wait.) No need to be concerned about whether we're headed for a bull or a bear market; all that matters is what happened this past quarter. Just rebalance your accounts, and move on. ... As I followed his reasoning behind each piece of the plan, he presciently anticipated and squashed almost every objection as they occurred to me." -- Jamie Low

"I'm currently running the plan in my 401(k) and IRA accounts. Having just finished my first quarterly rebalance of the plan in both accounts I must say that, for the first time in my investing life, I felt in control of my retirement savings!"-- Rick George

From the Back Cover:

"What the experts don't want you to know ... is that prices are all that matter. Ideas count for nothing; opinions are distractions. The only thing that matters is the price of an investment and whether it's below a level indicating a good time to buy or above a level indicating a good time to sell. We can know that level."
-- JASON KELLY, The 3% Signal

About this edition

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0142180955
• ISBN 13: 9780142180952
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336