The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books. Big Profits) Hardcover – 20 Mar. 2007

Bogle is the inventor of the index-tracking fund, so it's no surprise that this is all about index investing. He gives all of the arguments for it, and supports it with many quotes from the big names. Here's Warren Buffett:"By periodically investing in an index fund, the know-nothing investor can actually out-perform most investment professionals. Paradoxically, when 'dumb' money acknowledges its limitations, it ceases to be dumb .... Those index funds that are very low cost .... are investor-friendly by definition and are the best selection for most of those who wish to own equities"So, read this book to get a solid understanding of index trackers. I'd couple it with my favourite book on investing: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, where amongst other things you'll learn how to hold a portfolio of equities and bonds, rebalancing every year or so, which forces you to buy low and sell high.Be careful which index you choose to track though. I'm not convinced about the FTSE , as it has plenty of miners and stodgy companies. The S&P 500 has more of a tech bias, and is perhaps a better cross section of US industry than the FTSE is of UK industry. And it's not good to track an index that mostly goes nowhere. On the other hand, if you track the S&P or Nasdaq you'll have exposure to USD/GBP FX, which you probably don't want. You may not agree with me, and that's fine; I just believe that you should think very carefully about which equity index to track. Unlike US investors, this isn't such an easy question to answer.

Good, book for those new to the stock market, it is a must read before diving into the world of funds, John bogle applies real facts that can't be ignored before investing in mutual funds, after all even warren buffet recommends the index fund strategy.

On one level, I would concur with other reviewers of this book. It is just a tad repetitive - Bogle makes his key points fairly early on (minimise costs, don't try to second-guess the markets, avoid the poisoned-chalice of 'timing', buy the appropriate risk-graded market exposure using passives etc) and then keeps coming back to them later on.However...and it's a big however. In practice, I think the repetition is important. It is only superfluous for those who may have already learned the lessons, bought into the underlying logic. The fact is that the preponderance of investors (and, apparently, fund managers) still believe in an Alice-in-Wonderland world of investment which is all about special insights, market timing, leveraging and unfeasibly complex investment products or strategies. In the UK, many IFAs still attempt to 'pick the winners', akin to having a day at the races, except one's entire future wealth prospects depends upon the outcome. Bogle circles around, and comes back to his themes, but exploring them in different contexts, and with different examples.The author deals with all of this. He writes beautifully, and clearly. He is always forthright, and the text breathes commonsense and belief in every sentence. He also very usefully handles the issue of fads - for instance, chapter 15 supplies some much needed clarity on the pitfalls of ETFs, which often appear to be embraced somewhat indiscriminately by investors and advisers alike. There are eighteen chapters, which may seem a lot for "The Little Book of...", but they are short chapters, and they provide access to the subject-matter in bite-size chunks. This is eminently readable, even for busy people with little time for reading.Overall, this is a very useful book of practical guidance on the subject of investing. I would also recommend very strongly Jack's other seminal book, 'Enough': Enough True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by Bogle, John C. ( Author ) ON Jun-25-2010, Paperback

If you want to cut through all the financial pornographers in the investment management industry this is the book to buy

Avoids the hype, the jargon, the wild promises of super wealth, just tells you how to make some decent money,

It's a very smart book from a very smart man. Very clear concepts and examples. Oozes from brilliance.

I've been trying to learn more about investing for quite a while, but this is the first book I've bought on the topic."The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" is focused on the use of index-linked funds, which are described as the ideal investment tool for people who don't want to get too involved in stock-watching, but want an investment which has a good chance of soundly beating the returns offered by cash savings accounts over the long term.With the author John Bogle being one of the key players in the field of index funds (albeit now retired), one could easily anticipate a certain unfair bias in favour of these products. There does appear to be a certain element of this, as no mention is given of any potential disadvantages to index funds (other sources confirm that they do exist to some degree). That said, the book gives very clear examples of why an index fund can be generally expected to beat the alternatives, and provides an excellent argument for why this should be one of the main investment tools for everyone except die-hard gamblers.I wish the book was a little longer, with some discussion of the disadvantages of these index funds and a clearer display of how level-headedness and the Dunning–Kruger effect contribute to people being so determined that they can beat the market.

I never write reviews, had to for this one, very easy to understand, honest, must buy

Per l'investitore medio. Tramite prove supportate da dati numerici e principi di comune buonsenso, l'autore apre gli occhi al lettore sulla realtà legata ai fondi di investimento attivi solitamente proposti in banca. Realtà fatta di conflitti di interesse, alte commissioni e basse performance. Tali caratteristiche negative non sono presenti nei fondi indicizzati presentati dall'autore come il miglior mezzo di investimento per tutti.

Down to earth, easy to read and a very concrete. Right to the good stuff and no running around in circles.Would really recommend for anyone looking to invest and/or looking for more knowledge.

Escrito em linguagem de fácil entendimento, apesar da complexidade do tema, é leitura essencial para os interessados em investimentos em geral.

Great book about how to manage real expectations and how to use common sense in our investments. I can only recommend it

I have read the most recent version of Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Mainstreet,” and it made me thankful for those people who actually go out and try to make a return for themselves on the market. It provides a service that current leftist critiques of finance capitalism forget – they provide liquidity and aid price discovery. Now, that is just a small part of what they do, and the bulk of their profits are actual rents, and half of the people will end up losers whatever system they try – because there are some patterns in the market, but I am a believer that the market will stay irrational longer than I can stay liquid. I guess at heart I am pretty conservative about what I do with my money because people like Malkiel and Bogle speak to me so much.This book is like a cover version of Malkiel’s classic, coming in with a shorter page count and being less of a sales document – though where the recent “Random Walk” made me curious about Wealthfront and reading this made me go to the Vanguard website, I still am paying more in fees than I should to the company-administered 403(b) even in their so-called Index Fund. This is a pretty well-written book, but it does have a bit of an odd structure, with short chapters closed by asides referencing the current point made with an outside source instead of integrating it in the main chapter. Overall, though, it is a strong case for indexing your funds and taking advantage of the work the active traders do. When you are buying the market, you are giving up the chance of some great stock or sector that goes parabolic, but it also prevents you from thinking you are clever and taking a short position in that same sector just before it goes parabolic. Buy and hold and buy again seems to be the best way to ensure that the money you do invest will be there when you need it at the end of your life. I’m not trying to get rich by any means, but I’m also not looking to degrade the quality of my life at the end.