I'm not currently into economic textbooks, but my grandchildren tell me that the book by Gregory Mankiw, former head of the white house council of economic advisers is a model of intelligence and clarity. Why not try that one. John C. Bogle More Quotes by John C. Bogle More Quotes From John C. Bogle Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance. John C. Bogle perseverancemotivationallife Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy. John C. Bogle siren-songimpulseenemy Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper! John C. Bogle cheaper Investing is not nearly as difficult as it looks. Successful investing involves doing a few things right and avoiding serious mistakes. John C. Bogle successfulmistakelooks Don't look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack! John C. Bogle financial-successinvestmentlooks It's very difficult for any particular segment of the stock market to sustain superior performance. The watch word for our financial markets is, "reversion to the mean" i.e. what goes up must come down, and it's true more often than you can imagine. John C. Bogle financialimaginemean The miracle of compounding returns has been overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs. John C. Bogle investingcostmiracle The historical data support one conclusion with unusual force: To invest with success, you must be a long-term investor. John C. Bogle datasupportlong If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks. John C. Bogle investingmoneyloss The mistakes we make as investors is when the market's going up, we think it's going to go up forever. When the market goes down, we think it's going to go down forever. Neither of those things actually happen. Doesn't do anything forever. It's by the moment. John C. Bogle mistakeforeverthinking Index funds eliminate the risks of individual stocks, market sectors, and manager selection. Only stock market risk remains. John C. Bogle investingindividualrisk Ask yourself: Am I an investor, or am I a speculator? An investor is a person who owns business and holds it forever and enjoys the returns that U.S. businesses, and to some extent global businesses, have earned since the beginning of time. Speculation is betting on price. Speculation has no place in the portfolio or the kit of the typical investor. John C. Bogle typicalreturnforever The general systems of money management today require people to pretend to do something they can't do and like something they don't. It's a funny business because on a net basis, the whole investment management business together gives no value added to all buyers combined. That's the way it has to work. Mutual funds charge two percent per year and then brokers switch people between funds, costing another three to four percentage points. The poor guy in the general public is getting a terrible product from the professionals. John C. Bogle twopeopleyears In the long run, investing is not about markets at all. Investing is about enjoying the returns earned by businesses. John C. Bogle investingrunninglong The mutual fund industry has been built, in a sense, on witchcraft. John C. Bogle mutual-fundwitchcraftbuilt Speculation leads you the wrong way. It allows you to put your emotions first, whereas investment gets emotions out of the picture. John C. Bogle emotionwayfirsts I believe that the behavior of too many of our corporations investment bankers and fund managers has jeopardized some of the trust that investors have had. It's not the economic engine that we need to focus on, but the need to make sure that our investors receive their fair share of the returns that that great economic system produces. John C. Bogle investmentfocusbelieve Reversion to the mean is the iron rule of the financial markets. John C. Bogle ironbusinessmean The courage to press on regardless - regardless of whether we face calm seas or rough seas, and especially when the market storms howl around us - is the quintessential attribute of the successful investor. John C. Bogle stormsuccessfulsea We live in a very risky world and investors should not get "carried away" with excessive allocations to equities, or for that matter, real estate. As always asset allocation and low cost and broad diversification will be essential in earning one's fair share of whatever returns our financial markets are generous enough to bestow upon us. John C. Bogle financialrealworld
