More Straight Talk on Investing

12Some Advice on Financial Advice

When I was named president of Vanguard, I received a congratulatory phone call out of the blue from an older man whose daughters were childhood friends of mine. The man, whom I'll call Bob, said some nice things about Vanguard and mentioned that he had financed the college educations of his daughters (I will call them Kara and Allison) with investments in a single balanced fund, Vanguard Wellington Fund. Bob didn't have to invest so simply—he was a stockbroker with many investment options from which to assemble a balanced, diversified portfolio. But he was wise enough to understand the elegance and effectiveness of simplicity. I'll always remember his words, “Kara and Allison went to college on Wellington Fund.” One fund and 20 years. Pretty simple. Tremendously effective.

When to Seek Help

The premise of this book is that with a bit of knowledge, confidence, and discipline, you can achieve investment success on your own. This is especially true, in my view, for investors who are accumulating assets for a long-term goal like retirement. But not everyone has a financial professional in the family to give them investment guidance and offer fund recommendations. And not everyone's situations are as simple and straightforward as Bob's—establishing a time-certain program to finance his daughters’ educations. As such, there are plenty of instances when it makes sense to seek advice from a financial advisor or digital advice platform, commonly called ...