Credit Suisse lost billions of dollars last week. I don't think those millions of dollars would have been lost if they used their education instead of two of the seven sins (e.g. Greed, Sloth). 'Don't invest in something you don't understand' clearly was thrown out the window by oh-so-many banks around the world.

Education about investing is very important because it allows you to build a framework of knowledge from which you can utilise to drive your investment decision making.

As investors, it is our responsbility to be aware of the risks, potential rewards, implications, and costs of all of our decisions.

The good news is you don't need to go to business school to aquire this knowledge. The Internet and the Bookstore are your friends and with a small investment of your time and effort, you can get educated fast.

Morningstar, one of my favourite resources for all things educational, recently published an article entitled 'A Beginning Investor's Reading List'. It is a great summary of books that really capture the essence of what we are trying to do here at Slow Fortune. This article really excited me because I had not read four out of six, and I am eager to read them.

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need
by Andrew Tobias

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
by Roger Lowenstein

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf

A Random Walk Down Wall Street
by Burton G. Malkiel

Stocks for the Long Run
by Jeremy Siegel

All About Asset Allocation
by Richard A. Ferri

Managed funds, are mutual funds or exchanged traded funds that are managed by professionals.

On the whole, index funds are much cheaper (i.e. lower management fees) than professionally managed funds. However, managed funds can be utilised so make up a smaller component of your overall portfolio (This is called the 'Funny Money' section of my portfolio)

One interesting piece of research on managed funds was presented by John C. Bogle in “The Relentless Rules of Humble Arithmetic,” in the Financial Analyst Journal,
November/December 2005.

Two charts he presented in the article struck me as really insightful and offer some guidance in selecting a managed fund.

The more funds a company offers, the lower the returns

Funds from private companies perform better than Financial Conglomorates and Publically Traded companies

Suck down this data with a grain of salt. Correlation does not always imply causation.

This provides you with another two additional perspectives, in which you can use to analyze a managed fund and whether or not to invest. However, you will also need to do the standard due dilligence by reading the fund prospectus, background checking the fund manager, considering tax implications and many other factors.

Interesting stuff.

Anyone who is anyone on the internets knows about lolcats and icanhascheezburger.com.

But combining hilarous kitten speak with commentary on the credit crunch and financial markets? Now that is funny (and creative).

Laugh more at http://icanhazbailout.com/