The Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio

CHAPTER TWO John C. Bogle—The Investor’s Best Friend¹

Jack (as he prefers to be called) Bogle is the founder of Vanguard—the only mutual fund company owned by its investors, not by its founder or outside stockholders. This was a tremendous gift to Vanguard investors, since it means that, unlike other fund companies, Vanguard does not use part of investor returns to pay company stockholders. The result is that, after company expenses, all the Vanguard fund returns go to the Vanguard fund investors. The results are remarkable.

For the 10-year period ending September 30, 2017, 9 of 9 Vanguard money market funds, 55 of 58 Vanguard bond funds, 22 of 22 Vanguard balanced funds, and 128 of 137 Vanguard stock funds—for a total of 214 of 226 Vanguard funds—outperformed their Lipper peer-group average.

—Vanguard Report

Jack Bogle is one of a small handful of people who made the investing world serve the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. Whatever his subject, he speaks and writes from a strong, moral belief that finance should be simple, honest, and fair.

—Jane Bryant Quinn, syndicated columnist and author of Making the Most of Your Money

I rank this Bogle invention (index fund) along with the invention of the wheel, the alphabet, the Gutenberg printing press, and wine and cheese: a mutual fund that never made Bogle rich but elevated the long-term returns of the mutual-fund owners.

—Paul Samuelson, Nobel Laureate

The Vanguard advantage is becoming more widely recognized. Vanguard ...