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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

By: Jim Paul, Brendan Moynihan, Jack Schwager - foreword
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Tim Ferriss Book Club Selection

Jim Paul's meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all - his fortune, his reputation, and his job - in one fatal attack of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in several economic sectors. This book - winner of a 2014 Axiom Business Book award gold medal - begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle and land a key spot with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It then describes the circumstances leading up to Paul's $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it - primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, all losses come from the same few sources.

Investors lose money in the markets either because of errors in their analysis or because of psychological barriers preventing the application of analysis. While all analytical methods have some validity and make allowances for instances in which they do not work, psychological factors can keep an investor in a losing position, causing him to abandon one method for another in order to rationalize the decisions already made. Paul and Moynihan's cautionary tale includes strategies for avoiding loss tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing, trading, and speculating.

Also included is a bonus hour-long interview between co-author Brendon Moynihan and noted investor, business advisor, and best-selling author Tim Ferriss.

©2013 Brendan Moynihan (P)2014 Tim Ferriss Business Professionals & Academics Investing Thought-Provoking Money Chicago
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Critic reviews

"One of the rare noncharlatanic books in finance." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, from Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder)
“The book points out very early that many successful investors have opposing styles and theories on how to make money, and that they can not all be right at the same time. The most important point to take from the book is how to avoid losing money...” (Steve Osbiston, Financial Times Advisor)
“A novel approach aimed at pushing you inside your head and outside the losing habits most folks adopt right after multiple successes. A must-have for traders blessed with a string of hot trades.” (Ken Fisher, Fisher Investments, FORBES)
All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed this book, it's a fascinating and insightful look into how a man who had become accustomed success ending up destroying his own career through the kind of psychological traps that almost all traders and investors will be familiar with. I recommend it to anyone interested in the markets.

Good narrator.

A highly illuminating tale of hubris and nemisis.

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Great stories, great advice. Plan your stop-loss before you invest! Watch out for psychological biases!

Bonus interview by Tim Ferris is icing on the cake

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What did you like most about What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars?

It is a different take on the usual "How to make a million dollars doing x, y, z".

What was one of the most memorable moments of What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars?

Actually the piece at the end where the guy who penned the book tells about his experience of the interviews etc

Which character – as performed by Patrick Lawlor – was your favourite?

He was a great narrator throughout the book. I would look for his name in future audio books.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Hard to say without giving too much of the plot away. There are many high and low points through the book.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended, in my top ten audio books for the past few years.

Engaging and worthwhile

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The book follows the life of Jim Paul a boy raised in the rural Middle America, who dreams of a life beyond the simple one his parents have shown him. It follows Jim as he traverses the world, making strides towards his dream of making it big in the work of investment. Ultimately, his story is one of success and moments of excess and the lessons he learned on the way. Not a must read but a decent one.

A pretty good story

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This man did his research, looking at risk and judgement in business and management to inform his own understanding. I’d recommend this to leaders and managers to prompt some well informed self reflection inspired from here.

Wisdom beyond trading.

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