The J.K. Lasser Interview with John C. Bogle

Make Index Investing Work for You

The Vanguard founder offers investment insights to Lasser readers in this exclusive interview with Wiley Business and Finance book editor, Bill Falloon.

John C. Bogle is founder of the Vanguard Group, and President of its Bogle Financial Markets Research Center. He created Vanguard in 1974, and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 1999, Fortune magazine named Mr. Bogle as one of the four investment giants of the 21st century.

For Mr. Bogle, investing is all about common sense. Owning a diversified portfolio of stocks, and holding it for the long term, is a winner’s game. Common sense tells us, and history confirms, that the simplest and most efficient investment strategy is to buy and hold all of the nation’s publicly-held businesses at very low cost. The classic index fund that owns this market portfolio is the only investment that guarantees you your fair share of stock market returns.

To learn how to make index investing work for you, there’s no better mentor than legendary Jack Bogle. Saint Jack, as he is often called by the “Bogle-heads,” is well known for pointing out in his most recent book what he has labeled the “Grand Illusion.” Namely, the returns reported by mutual funds aren’t actually the returns earned by investors like you and me. Instead, what happens is that returns earned by the market