The Little Book of Common Sense Investing：The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns

Investingisallaboutcommonsense.Owningadiversifiedportfolioofstocksandholdingitforthelongtermisawinner'sgame.Tryingtobeatthestockmarketistheoreticallyazero–sumgame(foreverywinner,theremustbealoser),butafterthesubstantialcostsofinvestingarededucted,itbecomesaloser'sgame.Commonsensetellsus—andhistoryconfirms—thatthesimplestandmostefficientinvestmentstrategyistobuyandholdallofthenation'spubliclyheldbusinessesatverylowcost.Theclassicindexfundthatownsthismarketportfolioistheonlyinvestmentthatguaranteesyouwithyourfairshareofstockmarketreturns.Tolearnhowtomakeindexinvestingworkforyou,there'snobettermentorthanlegendarymutualfundindustryveteranJohnC.Bogle.Overthecourseofhislongcareer,Bogle—founderoftheVanguardGroupandcreatoroftheworld'sfirstindexmutualfund—hasreliedprimarilyonindexinvestingtohelpVanguard'sclientsbuildsubstantialwealth.Now,withTheLittleBookofCommonSenseInvesting,hewantstohelpyoudothesame.Filledwithin–depthinsightsandpracticaladvice,TheLittleBookofCommonSenseInvestingwillshowyouhowtoincorporatethisproveninvestmentstrategyintoyourportfolio.Itwillalsochangetheverywayyouthinkaboutinvesting.Successfulinvestingisnoteasy.(Itrequiresdisciplineandpatience.)Butitissimple.Forit'sallaboutcommonsense.WithTheLittleBookofCommonSenseInvestingasyourguide,you'lldiscoverhowtomakeinvestingawinner'sgame:Whybusinessreality—dividendyieldsandearningsgrowth—ismoreimportantthanmarketexpectations.Howtoovercomethepowerfulimpactofinvestmentcosts,taxes,andinflationHowthemagicofcompoundingreturnsisoverwhelmedbythetyrannyofcompoundingcostsWhatexpertinvestorsandbrilliantacademics—fromWarrenBuffettandBenjaminGrahamtoPaulSamuelsonandBurtonMalkiel—havetosayaboutindexinvesting.Andmuchmoreyou'llalsofindwarningsaboutinvestmentfadsandfashions,includingtherecentstampedeintoexchangetradedfundsandtheriseofindexinggimmickry.Therealformulaforinvestmentsuccessistoowntheentiremarket,whilesignificantlyminimizingthecostsoffinancialintermediation.That'swhatindexinvestingisallabout.Andthat'swhatthisbookisallabout.