The Motley Fool's Investing Without a Silver Spoon: How Anyone Can Build Wealth Through Direct Investing

Shows how to avoid brokerage fees by buying stock directly from companies

Dispelling the myth that it takes big money to make big money, Motley Fool writer Jeff Fischer champions direct investing, showing how individual investors can build substantial wealth with relatively small outlays of cash. Starting with as little as $50, an investor can purchase stock directly from a company, thereby avoiding intermediary charges incurred by using a broker. Fischer then explains how money compounds so that even small monthly investments can become significant nest eggs. In a section titled "How Do I Become a Millionaire?" he lists several ways to do so: "Begin with $500, save $1,200 annually, or $100 a month, and earn 15% per year. In 33 years, you'll have over $1 million." Or "Begin broke, save $2,400 a year, or $200 monthly, earn the stock market's historic 11% annual return, and in 36 years you'll have more than one million clams." Fischer presents basic investing principles here--a little over time becomes a lot--but like a typical Fool, he does so in a lighthearted, easy-to-understand fashion. The bulk of the book (300-plus pages), however, focuses on listings for more than 1,000 direct-investment plans, including company contact information, investing schedules, minimum and maximum investment amounts, and miscellaneous selling info. (For example, Roslyn Bancorp Inc.: "Sells within 10 bus. days, by mail, at avg. price, for $10 + comm.") A good resource for the cash-light beginning investor. --Rob McDonald