John C. Bogle

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

1. IDEA 1

   Owning the market beats picking winners

   Bogle, founder of the Vanguard investment company, argues that most investors would do better owning a low-cost fund that tracks the whole market than trying to pick winning shares or managers. He presents this as simple arithmetic.

2. IDEA 2

   Costs eat returns

   Bogle argues that fees and costs reduce investors' returns over time. Even small differences grow large. A fee that looks tiny each year keeps taking a share, and over decades it can eat a large part of the final amount.

3. IDEA 3

   The middlemen take a share

   Bogle compares financial intermediaries to a casino croupier who takes a cut of every bet. Investors as a group lose what intermediaries earn. The more they take, the less is left for the people whose money it is.

All 8 ideas from The Little Book of Common Sense Investing →