Book · 2014
If You Can
by William J. Bernstein
A free 16-page PDF from William Bernstein that tells millennials exactly how to invest for retirement using three index funds and nothing else.
What does Reddit think of If You Can?
The low unique-commenter ratio relative to mentions signals something specific: this is a booklet people link repeatedly rather than discuss at length. r/Bogleheads accounts for 46 of 55 mentions, with positive sentiment, and the dominant use pattern is recommendation-by-link — the ↑123 comment is just the title and a URL. What discussion exists is consistent: the ↑162 comment calls it 'awesome' and emphasizes the free PDF angle as a feature, not a footnote. At ↑163, it appears in a curated resource list alongside asset allocation reading, positioned as the shortest entry point before longer work. r/personalfinance has one mention. The ↑204 comment in the data is actually about Bernstein's Intelligent Asset Allocator, not this booklet — worth noting because Bernstein's name anchors multiple books, and readers sometimes treat them as interchangeable.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Three-fund portfolio as complete investing strategy
- · Behavioral obstacles to investing success
- · The five books every investor should read
- · Index fund investing for beginners
- · Fee minimization and long-horizon thinking
Common praise
- + r/Bogleheads (↑162) calls it awesome and treats the free PDF format as the main argument for reading it immediately.
- + The ↑163 resource list positions it as the correct first stop before asset allocation books, which is accurate given the length.
- + r/Bogleheads (↑76) recommends it as a brief intro that complements the Bogleheads' Guide without duplicating it.
- + At roughly 16 pages, it removes the 'I don't have time' objection that stalls most financial education.
Common criticism
- − The ↑204 comment discusses Bernstein's other book, not If You Can — the brand association causes readers to conflate a short pamphlet with Bernstein's full academic work.
- − r/investing's 8 neutral mentions suggest the booklet has nothing to say to readers who want more than three-fund basics.
- − Forty unique commenters across 55 mentions is a thin discussion base; this is a shared link, not an analyzed text.
- − The booklet's five recommended books are themselves a prerequisite barrier — some readers find the meta-reading list as daunting as the investing concepts.
Who it's for
You're skeptical that a 16-page free PDF can be worth your time. r/Bogleheads has answered this 46 times: it is. Read it before anything else Bernstein wrote. If the idea of a three-fund portfolio is still abstract, this is the clearest version of the argument. For readers who've already built a Boglehead portfolio and are optimizing allocation between funds, the Intelligent Asset Allocator is the next Bernstein book — not this one.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for If You Can?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“I'm 66 and still working. I've been 100% stocks until this year. I read Bernstein's *Intelligent Asset Allocator*, and it convinced me that a stock/bond allocation with periodic rebalancing makes a lot of sense. If I had it to do over again, I would have done 90/10 or 80/20 rather than 100% stocks. …
“Other summaries by topic Start Here If You Can by William Bernstein - Asset Allocation
“William Bernstein's IF YOU CAN which is a short, free PDF download on the internet and is awesome. Same message for those that dont want to read a whole book.
“If You Can by Bill Bernstein
“If there is one thing a person like you NEEDS to focus on, it's learning about money. You're scared of it because you don't understand it. And that will create stress and hurt you your entire life if you're the one responsible for managing it. If someone else handles the money - just give it to them…
“William Bernstein’s If You Can booklet is an excellent brief intro. Another book option aside from the ones you mentioned is The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing.
“My pleasure. Mr. Bogle is a very well-respected man in the financial world, even from the likes of Warren Buffet. The man has fought for the interests of the common investor all his life. I'd like to think this community who follows his investing principles would welcome new investors who are keen t…
“As others have said buy a good Exchange Traded Fund that covers a lot of stocks. You won't become mega-rich, but your money will grow over time. Exchange Traded Funds are like mutual funds you can buy directly in a stock exchange. Vanguard has several options (VOO for a S&P 500 fund, VTI for a fund …
Convinced? Pick up If You Can
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with If You Can — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Wealthy Barber
David Chilton
A Canadian barber explains index funds and pay-yourself-first saving to his regulars, and the advice still holds up decades later.
Quit Like a Millionaire
Kristy Shen
A Canadian immigrant who grew up in poverty explains how index funds and geographic arbitrage got her to retirement at 31.
I Will Teach You to Be Rich
Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi's personal finance system for people who hate budgeting: automate everything, ignore avocado toast, stop leaving money in savings accounts.
The Index Card
Helaine Olen
Harold Pollack's viral index card — nine rules for personal finance that fit on a 4x6 slip — expanded into a full book with Helaine Olen.
The Four Pillars of Investing
William J. Bernstein
A neurologist-turned-portfolio-theorist explains why the financial services industry exists mainly to extract fees from you, then shows you four ways to stop it.
The Richest Man in Babylon
George S. Clason
A 1926 book about a Babylonian merchant that r/Bogleheads still hands to newcomers because nothing else this short covers the basics this cleanly.
If You Can — frequently asked
Where can I find the If You Can PDF for free?+
r/Bogleheads links it directly in multiple threads. The ↑163 comment points to etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf; the ↑63 comment uses efficientfrontier.com as the mirror. Both have been stable for years. Bernstein made it freely available specifically so cost wouldn't be a barrier, which is part of what r/Bogleheads treats as a point in its favor.
Is If You Can a good first book for investing?+
Yes, with the caveat that it's roughly 16 pages, not a book. r/Bogleheads (↑163) places it at the top of a 'Start Here' resource list, before asset allocation books and Bogleheads' guides. The argument for reading it first is precisely its length: it delivers the core three-fund thesis in one sitting, so you know what you're signing up for before committing to longer texts.
How does If You Can compare to Bernstein's other books?+
Different scope entirely. If You Can is a short pamphlet covering the basic three-fund strategy with behavioral context. The Intelligent Asset Allocator — referenced at ↑204 in r/Bogleheads — is a full argument for stock-bond allocation with historical data. The Four Pillars of Investing goes further into theory. Read If You Can first; it tells you whether you want the deeper work.
What does r/Bogleheads recommend alongside If You Can?+
The ↑163 thread pairs it with asset allocation resources including Richard Ferri's All About Asset Allocation. The ↑76 comment adds The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing as the natural companion. If You Can identifies five books for readers to work through; r/Bogleheads threads are effectively a running annotation of that list.