Book excerpt: Want to build long-term, sustainable wealth? Then stay out of the stock market! That’s radically different advice from what the "experts" have served up for decades... but look at the miserable results those pundits have delivered! Investors who’ve chosen equity-based buy-and-hold approaches have seen their assets decline dramatically: not just for a year, but often for decades. Fortunately, there are better ways to invest — and Never Buy Another Stock Again reveals them. Renowned Reuters financial journalist David Gaffen first explains why stocks are an even worse short- and long-term investment than you realize. Next, he shows how to create a balanced portfolio that reflects a "big-picture," holistic approach, intelligently incorporating cash, real estate, retirement funds, savings, and other holdings. Gaffen’s strategies rely primarily on investments outside the stock market, while identifying strictly limited roles for mutual funds and ETFs. Readers will learn how to: dramatically reduce investing costs that can kill your returns; invest in an environment where double-digit returns can never be expected; overcome huge flaws in conventional diversification strategies; and offset risks associated with existing equity ownership.