The Enron employees and retirees violated one of the immutable laws of sound investing, Miccolis and Perrucci write. "Never, ever put too many of your eggs in one basket."

Getting the right asset mix can account for more than 90 percent of investment results, the authors report.

In 321 pages, not including the index, Miccolis and Perrucci walk readers through the ins and outs of asset allocation in bite-sized, digestible chapters. The paperback book is separated into five sections covering, among other things, the basics of asset allocation, and how to fill your investment basket with specific asset classes. You'll learn about weighing risk and return, why you need to rebalance your portfolio and alternative investments (commodities, real estate) and how taxes affect your choices. The authors list the most important asset classes with their historical rates of return. Don't skip the 10 common asset allocation mistakes.

I know a lot of people have pulled back from investing. I understand why. The stock market has been so frightful and losses so great. Some have even declared asset allocation failed them in the recent market downturn.

"Asset allocation was never designed or intended to avoid loss in all conceivable (let alone inconceivable) situations," says Miccolis. "It is designed to get you the best result given your risk tolerance. Virtually everything you could invest in -- save some categories of Treasury bonds -- lost considerable value at the same time. The nature and extent of that massive combined downturn was in many ways unprecedented."

With apologies to Winston Churchill, Miccolis admits asset allocation is a flawed system. But "it's just worlds better than whatever is in second place."

It is easy to be a member of our book club. We don't meet -- in person, that is. We do come together for a live online discussion. Join me at noon July 30 at www.washingtonpost.com. Miccolis and Perrucci will be available to take your questions about asset allocation.

Every month, as a bonus, I randomly select readers to receive a copy of the selected book, donated by the publisher. For a chance to win a copy of "Asset Allocation for Dummies" send an e-mail to colorofmoney(at)washpost.com. Please include your name and address.