I finished my book, The Future for Investors, over the weekend but didn’t get a chance to blog my final thoughts on it. I’m still very impressed by the research that Siegel put in. Reading some of his thoughts about the internet bubble and his take on some of Warren Buffett’s investing ideas made the book pretty entertaining. There are some great quotes from people who thought that Dr. Siegel was crazy when he predicted in 2000 that the stock market was in for a shock.

Another reason I liked the book was because it really showed, in raw data, how good a careful, sustained investment strategy can be. I see my portfolio as something I’ll cash out to help pay for a house or to help pay for kids college, but I wanted to find a good way to invest for the long, LONG term – retirement. Siegel convinced me that investing in quality stocks that pay high dividends is the way to go.

There are some things I disagree with him on however. After reading the book, those who invested in Oil, Brand-name consumer staples and Pharmaceuticals would have done the best. He thinks those industries are poised for more gains and that Oil in particular is still a good bet. He and I may just differ on our time frames, but I think that 50 years from now, the oil companies won’t be the money makers they were 50 years ago. Instead, I’ve decided to focus on big Pharma (Pfizer), Software (Microsoft) and Telecommunications (SBC). I think that those industries will bring the kind of returns that Siegel talks about in his book and 50 years from now, they’ll be considered “tried and true” instead of the “bold and new”.