An investing book for people who think investing isn’t for them.
Skip the jargon. Read it in an afternoon. Set up a trading account, automate contributions & let compound interest do the rest.
NEW - 2026 EDITION
Meet Lexi & Harry
$24,000 over 8 years vs $114,000 over 37 years. Same job. Same retirement age.
The one who put in less ended up nearly half a million dollars ahead.
Lexi
Lexi opens her account at 20.
For 8 years she puts $3,000 a year into ETFs. At 28 she stops contributing - completely.
She never puts another cent in.
Starts at 20 · stops at 28
Total investment at 65: $24,000
$1,913,120
Harry
Harry waits until 28 to start.
He puts in $3,000 a year, every year, until he’s 65 - a discipline Lexi never matched.
He contributes $90,000 more than Lexi.
Starts at 28 · keeps going
Total investment at 65: $114,000
$1,427,216
Calculations based on average annual return 11%, MER 0%, annual compounding, start-of-the-year.…the thing Lexi did differently was start earlier.
The whole concept, in three steps.
i.
ETFs spread your money across hundreds of companies from day one. You don’t need to be rich, you just need to begin.
Start with $1,000
ii.
Set up an automatic monthly contribution. Same amount, same day, every month. Boring is the feature.
Top up
ii.
Reinvest the dividends. Glance at the account every six months. That’s the whole job, for thirty years.
Twice-a-year-check
The magic of compound interest.
Starting at 25 with a $5,000 initial investment and $1,000 per month, rising to $2,000 per month over time - here’s what your portfolio could look like at 55.
about the author
Michael Quante
Despite holding a degree in health science — not finance — Michael has spent decades building wealth through value investing, following the principles of Warren Buffett.
Based in Queenstown, New Zealand, he works part-time as an optometrist and invests the rest of his time in what he loves: his wife, his friends, the outdoors, and helping others achieve financial independence.
No Nonsense Investing is the book he wished had existed when he started out.
📍 Queenstown, NZ
📚 20+ years investing
👓 part-time optometrist