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The Little Book of Commonsense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books. Big Profits)
 
 

The Little Book of Commonsense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books. Big Profits) (Hardcover)

by John C. Bogle (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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The Little Book of Commonsense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books. Big Profits) + The Little Book of Value Investing (Little Books. Big Profits) + The Little Book That Beats the Market (Little Books. Big Profits)
Price For All Three: £32.37

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; illustrated edition edition (20 Mar 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0470102101
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470102107
  • Product Dimensions: 18 x 13 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 33,414 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #35 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Personal Finance > Stocks & Shares
  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Review
"excellent advice in a concise and accessible manner." (The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2007)

"It′s hard to argue with the eloquent logic of John C. Bogle′s latest ode to index funds…Bogle′s ′Little Book′ offers much exemplary advice." (Bloomberg News, April 2007)

Among monetary gurus and wise men, John Bogle is a singular case. As the founder of the highly regarded Vanguard Group, he is revered for the company′s commitment to providing value to its clients as well as profits to its investors. He even has his own group of fans, called "Bogleheads," who cling to every utterance and pronouncement from the great man.
In this latest entry in the Little Book series, Bogle′s gentle prose contains idiot–proof advice for investors at all levels. He punctures the myth of the superiority of mutual funds and instead declares that by using a bit of common sense, low–cost index funds are the way to go for most modest stock investors. He′s also wary of the ways of Wall Street and cautions investors to steer clear of its institutional con men and cautions against excessive fees and taxes that invariably eat up profits.
It′s not very glamorous or exciting advice, but that′s also his point: Slow and steady wins the race. (Miami Herald, April 9, 2007)

"genuinely provides investors with the ideal strategy for making the most of stock–market investing" (Motley Fool′s UK website, March 8, 2007)

"It′s an easy read that will, I suspect, quickly join Burton Malkiel′s A Random Walk Down Wall Streetand Charles Ellis′s Winning the Loser′s Gameas one of the indexing crowd′s favorite books."—Jonathan Clements (Wall Street Journal)

"It′s hard to argue with the eloquent logic of John C. Bogle′s latest ode to index funds." (Bloomberg Terminal, March 8, 2007).

"provides an opportunity to reflect on a remarkable career and legacy." (Financial Times, 19th March 2007)

"…it is John Bogle′s hymn to index–tracking investment, and a fascinating read it is too." (Daily Telegraph, March 2007)

"Those who doubt my reasoning should read the Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle." (FT Adviser, 24th April 2007)

"…particularly interesting…goes some way towards discrediting the stockpicking virtues taught to me in my time as a financial journalist." (Fund Strategy, 7th May 2007)

"…wittily written, pocket–sized guide…If you want to learn how to avoid the unpredictabilities of the stock market and the fees of middle men, then this book is well worth a read." (Pensions Age, May 2007)

" ... For the individual investor, it presents a solid game plan for growing funds over the long haul." (Directorship, July 2007)

"... read Bogle′s new Little Book of Common Sense Investingand you′ll see how easy it is to beat the Alpha Hunters at their own game!" (MarketWatch, July 2007)

Review
“Reading it is like having a fireside chat with one of the masters of investing.”  CityWire.co.uk  Friday 8 August 2008

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The Little Book of Commonsense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books. Big Profits)
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Telling Evidence of Why We Should Invest in Index Funds, 30 Nov 2007
This data-rich book elucidates whether and why we should invest in index funds as our major investment portfolio. Since the author repeated again and again why he champions investing in index funds, you may find some part of this book redundant. But that's the way how the guru in Wall Street tries to coax readers into investing in the simplest way with common sense.

I have heard much about index funds before, but I didn't exactly know what the index fund is all about. Therefore, I had been rather dubious about index funds until I finished reading this book. I came to realize that I should take seriously into consideration investing in index funds as a part of my serious money portfolio. John Bogle is not the only one who espouses investing in index funds, but this book is extremely easy-to-follow and accessible when it comes to why we should invest in index funds. By the way, if you fancy more insightful academic arguments for index funds, you may take a look at 'A Random Walk Down Wall Street' by Burton G. Malkiel.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense, 15 April 2009
By A. Flack "Alan Flack" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is indeed all about common sense except its length.
Don't try to beat the markets and get caught out - use the method of diversification to maximise the return of the whole market.
This book is a good start for investors and will give the passive (those who do not wish to do lots of analysis in to each company they invest in) investor the best return for their money without paying fund managers to line their own pockets.
For those who do want to analyse stocks and take an active role in the market, this book will be informative for the first couple of chapters, then move on to "The little book of Value Investing".
As a general summary the book could have been a lot "little-r". Bogle gets his point across very eloquently in the first few chapters and then repeats and repeats the point over the rest of the book. If you are short of patience - this will be tiresome and frustrating.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Best little guide to investing, 21 Feb 2009
By Honest Abe (Manchester UK) - See all my reviews
Summary (To save you time):
If you want to retire early and financially wealthy you'll go a long way to beat this book. your first investment should be this book and then the markets. John Bogel provides a clear and concise text on how to make a good (If unexciting) return.
This book is accessible, factually based, informative and small enough to read quickly. There is no heavy analysis or huge amount of brain power required.


Review:
What makes a good investing book? It always seems to be the promise of riches and excitement. Well good luck most of the exciting stock picking methods lead to bankrupcy.
What should make a good investing book? Hows about something that can actually work?
Please bear in mind at this point that if a stock picking method cannot be rationaly explained as to why it works the chances are its garabge. One method that was well explained is Value Investing. Unfortuantely these days you are up against computers that can analyse all world wide stock markets in real time - chances are you won't win.

In a market of hype about the "Latest" and "Greatest" stock picking method John Bogel has written a book based on common sense. Inevitably all investors in a market must on average gain returns equal to the market, less costs (Forget these at your peril).
In recent years Wall Street has made $400 Billion per year in those costs (Thats right they won and you lost before your money even went into stocks). Hows about keeping that money and still investing and getting a fair (Average) share of returns? Sound boring? Well the best way isn't always the most exciting.

Through humble arithmatic John Bogel convinces you of the value and sense in a low cost index tracking fund.
Each chapter finishes whith people who endorse indexing. The likes of Warren E. Buffet, Charlie Munger, Charles Schwab, etc (Who all know more about investing than I ever will) endorse indexing. Thats good enough for me.

As a quick explanation of the aritmetic (I made these numbers up, they're not from the book, but they are mathematically accurate) and why it should convince you:
Assume the stock market returns 10% per year, you have 100% portfolio turnover per year, 2% costs (Very low) and 40% taxes (which is about right in GB where I live). If you have a system to beat the markets you need a return of 10% or more as well. So 10% return + 2% costs + 40% taxes =
(10 + 2) / 0.6 = 20%. Well good luck! Your system needs to double market returns. Hint: One reason Warren Buffet is able to beat the markets is he has very low portfolio turnover (Thus avoiding many taxes).

So are there down sides to this book?
Well Yes, there always are. Inevitable John Bogel uses the Vanguard S&P 500 index tracker (From his own company) as an example. He mentions others but not very often. So it sometimes feels a little like a sales exercise in places. However never so much that it detracts from the point. And I am a cynic who is always looking to disprove (Or even disapprove) of what I read.
Also indexing doesn't offer you very much excitment. However I can counter that with I want to retire early, not late (And broke) in life knowing I had fun in the markets.
Lastly I haven't read all the books out there and there may well be better for me yet to discover. As far as I personally have read this book tops the list though.


Resummary:
Not exciting but so well worth the money, unlike most of the garbage out there. As for most stock picking methods please remember you are taking on the best and brightest on Wall Street and their computers. They still lost huge regularly (In recent years lets all remember 2000-1, 2003, 2007-8, each time we witnessed in the region of a 40% crash in the markets). If they fail why can you or I do better? I'll stick to boredom and a fair return.

As a final endorsement of what John Bogel writes about, when companies make investments that they have to all but guarantee returns on (Pensions etc), they invest in the manner described in this book. They just don't advertise it, but if you want a good safe return guess what...
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