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The Little Book of Common Sense Investing book cover

Cover: Open Library

MoneyIntermediate

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

by John C. Bogle

★★★★★ 5/5 · Poornadnyan rating

The big idea

Owning the whole market through a low-cost index fund beats most professional investors once costs are counted.

Read it if…

People who have started investing and are confused by fund choices, tips and "hot" sectors.

Skip it if…

You enjoy researching individual companies and want to become a stock picker.

Key ideas in 2 minutes

  1. Costs quietly eat returns – a small yearly fee becomes a large amount over decades.
  2. Most active funds fail to beat their index over the long run.
  3. A simple index fund held for years is a complete strategy, not a lazy one.

Our review

Written by the man who created the index fund, this is a calm, data-heavy argument for keeping investing simple. The numbers are American, but the logic applies directly to Nifty and Sensex index funds in India.

Read it once you have the basics in place. It will save you from a lot of expensive "expert" advice.

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