mutual funds

This book is excellent as far as getting the basics with respect to mutual funds, and Bogle's point of view, albeit conservative with respect to bonds, should be listened to and respected. This book is perfect for beginners in mutual funds. However, much of this book can be skipped over by mutual fund veterans. Still a good read from a great author.

This is the single best investment book I've ever read and used. Bogle is accessible, thorough, and helpful. His general advice has been known to Vanguard investors for quite some time and the Vanguard "philosophy" has helped me build a nice retirement nest egg over the last 20 years. You can do it too without fearing the ups and downs of the market.

This book is a gem with many facets. It explains the various investment markets; it describes the different types of mutual funds (bond, stock, balanced, money market, etc.); it tells you how to understand and evaluate risk; and it gives advice on how to construct an investment program for whatever purpose you may have in mind (college tuition, retirement, to preserve and enlarge an inheritance). Bogle also gives advice on how much risk is prudent for different investment time "horizons".

I bought this book when it first came out and have re-read it several times to make sure I'm on track. For the average investor, this is a classic.

This "Definitive Book on Mutual Funds" demonstrates effectively with facts and statistics that common stocks are hugely superior to long-term bonds and cash reserves. (I personally think income-producing real estate is superior to common stocks, but there are no national statistics to prove that.)

How should we invest in common stocks? Mr. Bogle has the answer for most of us, it is indexed mutual funds (S&P 500, Russell 2000, etc.). This book should be reread if you start getting impatient and begin to feel that your stock-picking ability is superior to the stock market indices.

How readers will feel about Mr. Bogle's book, say, 10 to 20 years from now, depends upon what happens to the stock market in the future. If the stock market has a disastrous crash (index funds do not provide immunity from crashes) along the way, and 15 years from now it is, say, at 10,000, people will say, "Boy, was I stupid to believe Mr. Bogle, and put so much into the stock market."

The bottom line advice of this excellent book is that the stock market is a good bet, so obviously if the market does not cooperate, the credibility of this scholarly work will suffer. 20/20 hindsight will condemn even the best books. I am betting all my stock market investments, mostly indexed mutual funds (most of my money, however, is in real estate), that there won't be a disaster and the market will be significantly higher. The history that Mr. Bogle provides in this book shows that this is a reasonable bet.