Best John Bogle Quotes & Sayings

It's amazing how difficult it is for a man to understand something if he's paid a small fortune not to understand it. — John C. Bogle

The miracle of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs. — John C. Bogle

The multiple failings of our flawed financial sector are jeopardizing, not only the retirement security of our nation's savers but the economy in which our entire society participates. — John C. Bogle

Fund investors are confident that they can easily select superior fund managers. They are wrong. — John C. Bogle

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

The idea that a bell rings to signal when investors should get into or out of the stock market is simply not credible. After nearly fifty years in this business, I do not know of anybody who has done it successfully and consistently. I don't even know anybody who knows anybody who has done it successfully and consistently. Yet market timing appears to be increasingly embraced by mutual fund investors and the professional managers of fund portfolios alike. — John C. Bogle

The point is that market returns are determined by both investment factors - the fundamentals of the initial dividend yield on stocks plus the rate at which their earnings grow - and by speculative factors - the change in the price that investors will pay for each $1 of corporate earnings. — John C. Bogle

But whatever the consensus on the EMH, I know of no serious academic, professional money manager, trained security analyst, or intelligent individual investor who would disagree with the thrust of EMH: The stock market itself is a demanding taskmaster. It sets a high hurdle that few investors can leap. — John C. Bogle

"Now you can trade the S&P 500 Index in real time" was the slogan in the newspapers for the first ETF. What kind of nut would do that? — John C. Bogle

If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks. — John C. Bogle

The grim irony of investing, then, is that we investors as a group not only don't get what we pay for, we get precisely what we don't pay for. So if we pay for nothing, we get everything. — John C. Bogle

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

If it is hard to imagine that 20% of losses on the stock market, you should never participate — John C. Bogle

On balance, the financial system subracts value from society — John C. Bogle

It's 1450 out of 1500 ETF funds that I just wouldn't touch because they're not diversified enough. Or they have some huge speculative twist to them that if you can guess the markets right you will do very well for a day or two but who can do that? Nobody. — John C. Bogle

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

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

Reversion to the mean is the iron rule of the financial markets. — John C. Bogle

Surprise! The returns reported by mutual funds aren't actually earned by mutual fund investors. — John C. Bogle

We need a mutual fund industry with both vision and values; a vision of fiduciary duty and shareholder service, and values rooted in the proven principles of long-term investing and of trusteeship that demands integrity in serving our clients. — John C. Bogle

My biggest prediction for the future is that people are going to start looking after individual investors. — 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

Index funds eliminate the risks of individual stocks, market sectors, and manager selection. Only stock market risk remains. — John C. Bogle

In Las Vegas we all know that it's the croupiers who win. At the race track, it's those who control the handle who win. State lotteries, does anybody think the participants in the lottery win? No. The state wins. — John C. Bogle

The principal role of the mutual fund is to serve its investors. — John C. Bogle

The historical data support one conclusion with unusual force: To invest with success, you must be a long-term investor. — John C. Bogle

Hint: money flows into most funds after good performance, and goes out when bad performance follows. — John C. Bogle

The transfer of Wall Street from private ownership to public ownership has been a big step backward. — John C. Bogle

You know the rule of 72, divide the number into 72, any number you want, and that's how long it will take your money to double. — John C. Bogle

Investing is not nearly as difficult as it looks. Successful investing involves doing a few things right and avoiding serious mistakes. — John C. Bogle