...I do not buy/sell stocks for a living, so its not a matter of life & death for me because i have other things that keep me occupied during the day. However, i am passionate about the subject.
In my library i got The Intelligent Investor, The Millionare next door, Rich dad poor dad, The elements of investing (published in 2010).
So far the first three books are quite old fashioned but the last (Elements of Investing) is by far the best for some of us who have not been to an accounts 101 class.
Its only 153-pages and in writting this book, the two professors provide an important service to the lay reader, honing their message to the bare essentials by heading Albert Einsteins dictum that ' everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler'.
Bottom line... Start saving and invest, once you have started you can do asset allocation, time the market and exercise due diligence in selecting your securities.
It doesn't matter whether you make a return of 2 percent, 5 percent or even 100 percent on your investments if you have nothing to invest via spending more than you earn.
History will not remember you for your IQ. It will remember you for what you did. “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” Thomas Edison