Teachings from John C. Bogle

John C. “Jack” Bogle was an investor and philanthropist who founded the Vanguard Group and pioneered index investing. Vanguard has become one of the largest investment management companies in the world with about $7 trillion of assets under management.

Bogle built Vanguard as essentially a non-profit organization because it is owned by the investors in its funds.

Credited with creating the first index fund, he effectively gave the average investor a low-cost way to take advantage of market returns. This is why he was lauded by Warren Buffett. “Jack did more for American investors as a whole than any individual I’ve known,” Buffett said in a CNBC interview. “If a statue is ever erected to honor the person who has done the most for American investors, the hands down choice should be Jack Bogle.”

So here are 8 quotes from Bogle to ponder. These lessons give us some perspective into the mind of one of the most influential investors in the 21st century.

Best quotes from Jack Bogle

Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!

Short and to the point. Of course Jack refers to the idea that buying a broad based index fund will give the average investor much higher returns than trying to choose only the winning stocks.

Investing is not nearly as difficult as it looks. Successful investing involves doing a few things right and avoid serious mistakes.

This is a great message. Success is what happens when you practice good judgement consistently and avoid the major pitfalls, such as being too concentrated in one stock.

Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy.

Personal finance is more about behavior than anything else.

If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn’t be in stocks.

We’ve seen a 20% pullback in US stocks this year. Corrections are to be expected because volatility is the price investors pay for long term returns in the stock market.

Fund investors are confident that they can easily select superior fund managers. They are wrong.

Most funds underperform their respective benchmarks over time. And the ones that do consistently outperform, such as the Medallion fund, are often not accessible to you.

Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance.

I never thought having realistic expectations was a virtue. But he’s right. 🙂

What may work for the few cannot work for the many.

“I did this really impressive thing, so therefore you can too,” is one of the biggest lies on the internet.

When there are multiple solutions to a problem, choose the simplest one.

I feel like this is great life advice in general. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. 🙂 #minimalism.