John Bogle - a Mustachian man in an industry of hustlers

[acroy]

Great little article
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-99-of-trading-is-pointless-john-bogle-2015-07-30

"Don't do something, just stand there!". Fits right in with MMM investing philosophy.

[fb132]

I always liked him, he seems like a simple person in a world where anything is but simple. I guess that's why he started vanguard, he wanted something...simple.

[forummm]

"Don't do something, just stand there!".

That's a great quote. And article.

[slugline]

Once a year, I might rebalance my asset allocation . . . and then it feels a bit funny to just step away for another 12 months. But yeah, it's comforting to know that if I traded more frequently, I'd be more likely to make things worse instead of better.

It's a much better time to be an investor. I'd hate to think what it would have been like to build a portfolio in the era before index funds, before low-cost brokerages, and under the "advice" of a smiling broker in a fancy office.

[codemonkey]

I just finished reading his book "Enough" and thought it was both well written and made some good points. 

[fb132]

Once a year, I might rebalance my asset allocation . . . and then it feels a bit funny to just step away for another 12 months. But yeah, it's comforting to know that if I traded more frequently, I'd be more likely to make things worse instead of better.

It's a much better time to be an investor. I'd hate to think what it would have been like to build a portfolio in the era before index funds, before low-cost brokerages, and under the "advice" of a smiling broker in a fancy office.

Just think of the 1929 crash when you didn't have Vanguard or any index funds to invest in. You were almost forced to chose your own portfolio...and it is not like you had the internet to help you out with that. In those time, you had to rely more on financial advisors.

[Kaspian]

In this video about the same quote, I love the punchline at the end of the anecdote--really clever!  :D

http://time.com/money/3956351/jack-bogle-index-fund/

[arebelspy]

In this video about the same quote, I love the punchline at the end of the anecdote--really clever!  :D

http://time.com/money/3956351/jack-bogle-index-fund/

Okay, that was good.  I'm not a fan of videos, but it was just a minute, and worth it.

A good reminder of what we need to do (or not), even if we don't have that adviser.

[Phenix]

"The job of finance is to provide capital to companies. We do it to the tune of $250 billion a year in IPOs and secondary offerings," Bogle told Time in an interview.

"What else do we do? We encourage investors to trade about $32 trillion a year. So the way I calculate it, 99% of what we do in this industry is people trading with one another, with a gain only to the middleman. It's a waste of resources."

Great article!  I like hearing what Bogle has to say.

[k9]

Just think of the 1929 crash when you didn't have Vanguard or any index funds to invest in. You were almost forced to chose your own portfolio...and it is not like you had the internet to help you out with that. In those time, you had to rely more on financial advisors.

Or, you could just buy the 10 biggest stocks from dow jones. This is what Ben Graham advised in the 1950s. It has a strong correlation to what an SP500 / dow index would have produced (Yes, I know, SP500 didn't exist back then, but you get the idea).

[fb132]

Just think of the 1929 crash when you didn't have Vanguard or any index funds to invest in. You were almost forced to chose your own portfolio...and it is not like you had the internet to help you out with that. In those time, you had to rely more on financial advisors.

Or, you could just buy the 10 biggest stocks from dow jones. This is what Ben Graham advised in the 1950s. It has a strong correlation to what an SP500 / dow index would have produced (Yes, I know, SP500 didn't exist back then, but you get the idea).

Wouldn't that be way expensive, for example just Netflix is around 121.15$ per share. So imagine having 10 at around 100$ on average each.

[k9]

Well, you can make that portfolio one company at a time.

[fb132]

Well, you can make that portfolio one company at a time.

True, but the DCA would be tough to acheive (since we would buy one company stock at either a lump sum or wait out a few months before purchasing more because you have 9 other stocks to buy before rotating back) vs what we have today with vanguard. I mean lets face it, we have it good today :P

[Phenix]

I mean lets face it, we have it good today :P

I wish others could see how good we have it today.  Self-sufficiency is more of an option now rather than a necessity to live as it was for many back then.  What used to be life for people outside of populated areas (raising crops, killing your own animals, cooking your own food), is now lost on many people and considered a hobby by many others.

[k9]

Well, you can make that portfolio one company at a time.

True, but the DCA would be tough to acheive (since we would buy one company stock at either a lump sum or wait out a few months before purchasing more because you have 9 other stocks to buy before rotating back) vs what we have today with vanguard. I mean lets face it, we have it good today :P

It was less convenient back then, for sure. Plus, it was very expensive anyway to buy stocks. The ability for average Joe to invest in stocks as a whole today is really cool.

[Vic99]

I mean lets face it, we have it good today :P

I wish others could see how good we have it today.  Self-sufficiency is more of an option now rather than a necessity to live as it was for many back then.  What used to be life for people outside of populated areas (raising crops, killing your own animals, cooking your own food), is now lost on many people and considered a hobby by many others.

Exactly. I'm a school teacher and try to impart this on my kids and on my friends. I'm not sure who appreciates what I say on this less, kids or friends.

[BicycleB]

I mean lets face it, we have it good today :P

I wish others could see how good we have it today.  Self-sufficiency is more of an option now rather than a necessity to live as it was for many back then.  What used to be life for people outside of populated areas (raising crops, killing your own animals, cooking your own food), is now lost on many people and considered a hobby by many others.

Exactly. I'm a school teacher and try to impart this on my kids and on my friends. I'm not sure who appreciates what I say on this less, kids or friends.

LOL

[FLA]

John Bogle changed my life, a forever fan