7 key lessons from John Bogle's classic, ‘The Little Book of Common Sense Investing’
Here’s a clean, no-nonsense breakdown of the 7 big takeaways from The Little Book of Common Sense Investing . Bogle’s whole message is simple: don’t try to be clever, try to be consistent. 1. You don’t beat the market—so own the whole market. Bogle’s central idea: most investors underperform because they’re constantly trying to pick winners. A low-cost total market index fund gives you the market return, which is already better than what most active managers manage after costs. **2. Costs matter more than you think. Expense ratios, transaction costs, turnover, and taxes quietly eat into returns. Even 1% extra cost annually becomes a huge drag over decades. Bogle treats minimizing cost as the investor’s biggest “edge.” **3. Time in the market beats timing the market. Trying to predict highs/lows is a loser’s game. Staying invested through booms, crashes, and recoveries gives compounding the uninterrupted runway it needs. 4. The magic of compounding works only if you let it....