Favorite Picks from 'The Forever Portfolio'

But then I had an idea. Why not write about whatever I wanted to write about? One condition was this: Every page had to be useful. But it could be useful about stocks, jobs, entrepreneurship, dieting, games, Chubb Rock, chocolate, anything. And fill it with the craziest, but true, stories and anecdotes I could think of. The other condition was: It really had to help people stop worrying. People worry about their money all the time. And if they are not worried about money, then they are worried about their looks, their jobs, their families, etc. For instance, right this second, I'm pretty sure my wife hates me, and I'm worried about it. But heck, if I read my book, I might stop worrying about that.

The first line in the book is, "I don't like to worry." Here are some of the chapter titles:

• "Bloody Marys, Dividends, and the San Francisco earthquake"
• "The Entire Internet Is Going Down and There's Nothing We Can Do About It"
• "Bubble 2.0: Women's Legs and Tattoos"
• "Diamonds, Clothes, Chocolate: Live the Good Life"

I actually had a fun time writing it, and from mid-February when I was in despair to the time when I submitted 260 pages was about three weeks. I even made a crossword puzzle from scratch and put it in the middle of the book. I never saw a book in the investing section that had a crossword puzzle in it, so I wanted to do it.

But, ultimately, it's a book where there's an undercurrent about stocks and investing. In particular, which demographic changes are going to be so overwhelming that you can buy the stocks behind those demographics right now, never think about them again, and make money over the long haul. Here are a few:

Obesity: This trend is never going away. People get more and more obese, and some $30 billion in obesity-related costs are sucked out of the GDP each year. Stock Pick No. 1: ResMed (RMD Quote) is my favorite play in the space. The company makes the masks that detect and help prevent sleep apnea, which is a condition that results when the neck is obstructed from breathing at night because of fat. This will not be affected by the economy, the stock market, a housing slowdown, etc. The more people weigh, the more people need sleep apnea masks, and RMD is the leader.