Stay Calm - by David Booth (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A relaxed and friendly book . . .Booth's writing is soothing, and his overall message -- investing is simply a bet on human innovation and progress -- is a truism worth repeating. Young people, in particular, might benefit from reading it." -- Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal

From one of the pioneers of index investing and a founder of factor investing comes a clear, calming, and empowering guide to building true wealth--rooted not in predictions, hacks, or market timing but in the science of how markets actually work.

"Uncertainty isn't something to fear--it's where possibility lives." --David Booth

For more than 50 years, David Booth has been at the center of a monumental transformation in personal finance. As founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, Booth has worked alongside Nobel laureates Gene Fama, Merton Miller, Myron Scholes, and Robert Merton, helping to transform investing from a game of speculation into a discipline grounded in evidence, diversification, and long-term thinking. In Stay Calm, he shares the lessons, mindset, and stories behind that revolution--and shows readers how to apply them in their own lives.

In this accessible and engaging book, Booth explains why trying to pick stocks or predict the market's next move is a losing game, and why trusting markets--not gurus--gives ordinary investors a powerful advantage. Drawing on decades of data and experience, he explores:

• Why market prices reflect information faster than any individual can, and why this is good news for investors

• How to build a resilient, low-stress investment strategy using diversification, discipline, and patience

• How to avoid the emotional traps that cause investors to buy high, sell low, and miss long-term gains

• Why uncertainty is not a danger to be eliminated but a source of opportunity

• What "true wealth" really means--and how money can support a life of purpose, freedom, and meaning

Warm, wise, and refreshingly free of jargon, Stay Calm is both a practical guide to long-term investing and a philosophy for living with clarity and confidence. Whether you're just starting out, rethinking your financial plan, or guiding others, this book will change the way you think about markets, risk, and what really matters.

Review Quotes

"A relaxed and friendly book anyone can read in a few sittings. It's partly a memoir about [David Booth's] early years at the forefront of the index-fund revolution and partly a basic guide to lifelong buy-and-hold investing. Booth's writing is soothing, and his overall message -- investing is simply a bet on human innovation and progress -- is a truism worth repeating. Young people, in particular, might benefit from reading it."--- Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal

"Booth is a keen observer who draws lessons from his experience as a young shoe salesman, a student, an early proponent of passive investing, and a founder, CEO, and Chairman of a successful money management firm. There are many takeaways. Most will help readers have a good investment experience. All will point readers toward a better life."--Kenneth French, Roth Family Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and Director at Dimensional

"David Booth built one of the most successful investment firms in the world. He had a big idea, the right collaborators, and the discipline to trust evidence over instinct for five decades.
Stay Calm is the story that legends are created from. And David Booth is the rarest kind of person to learn it from: calm in all circumstances, brilliant, and always willing to try a better way."--Michael Ovitz, Co-Founder of Creative Artists Agency

"From humble beginnings to global impact, this concise yet powerful memoir charts the extraordinary rise of David Booth. It is a story of entrepreneurial success and transformative philanthropy, set against the backdrop of the revolution in modern finance. By weaving together the pioneering history of the University of Chicago and Dimensional Fund Advisors with personal wisdom, David offers a rare, ringside view of an industry's evolution--and the timeless lessons he learned along the way."--Madhav Rajan, Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

"In Stay Calm, David Booth presents a timeless framework for thoughtful, science-based investing, honed by forty-five years of experience as founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors. Compact yet deeply insightful, this book is a rare gem that can benefit readers of every background and level of investing knowledge from novice to experienced professional. It is a book to be read--and reread often, especially in times of heightened uncertainty."--Robert C. Merton, School of Management Distinguished Professor of Finance at MIT Sloan School of Management, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences, and Dimensional Consultant

"No one has done more to bring the SCIENCE of investing to the broader public than David Booth. His commitment to understanding markets--through deep, evidence-based, academic research--is unparalleled."--Barry Ritholtz, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management

"Raised in Kansas and shaped by the University of Chicago, David Booth has built a career on a single conviction: that the rewards of public markets shouldn't be reserved for insiders. For more than fifty years, David has worked to give anyone willing to learn how markets work the same fighting chance as the privileged few. He has measured his success by how many people he's helped to reach their financial goals. This book is for everyone David hasn't met yet. Reading it will change the way you see your money and possibly your life."--Senator Bill Bradley, Dimensional Consultant

"Success--in anything, from fitness to business to investing--comes from discipline and patience, not chasing shortcuts. David Booth, who is a visionary and a great friend, reminds us that staying calm, loving the process, and focusing on what we can control is the real path to lasting results. This book is about building strength the smart way--over time."--Arnold Schwarzenegger, longtime Dimensional shareholder

"There was a financial revolution in our time, brought about through a combination of computers, data collection, and theory. David Booth and the University of Chicago were at the center of it. Stay Calm is in part a chronicle of this financial revolution. But more relevantly, it's a story about scientific principles of investing that shows how easy it is today for anyone to invest well."--Errol Morris, Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker

"This is David Booth's take on life and investing after a long history with both. It's an interesting read and unlike most books of this sort, it's also fun."--Eugene Fama, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences and Director at Dimensional

About the Author

From his first sales experience selling shoes as a teenager in Lawrence, Kansas, to working on the team that launched the first index fund, to pioneering what would come to be known as factor investing, David Booth didn't just witness the financial revolution--he helped lead it. For five decades, he's bridged the worlds of academic theory and practical investing, collaborating with Nobel laureates to build Dimensional Fund Advisors into a $1 trillion global firm that has democratized evidence-based investing for millions.

Booth earned degrees in economics and business from the University of Kansas, followed by an MBA from the University of Chicago. His Chicago education proved instrumental to his success, leading to a transformative gift to the business school in 2008. The University of Chicago Booth School of Business now bears his name, and the contribution continues to support faculty and their field-defining research.

Through his visionary application of financial theory to real-world investing, Booth has established himself as one of the most influential figures in investing--an outsider who challenged Wall Street's conventional wisdom and won.