I would always advise young people to follow their star - not my star. They have to live their own life. If they decide they want to go into the investment business, do it, but make it a better business than it is today.
John C. BogleRead
The grim irony of investing is that we investors as a group not only don't get what we pay for, we get precisely what we don't pay for.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Investors often miss out on the true value of their investments and sometimes receive negative outcomes despite their efforts.
John C. Bogle highlights the paradoxical nature of investing, where investors feel the burden of fees and costs, yet fail to realize that the pursuit of lowering these expenses can lead to missed opportunities. This ironic situation suggests that by focusing solely on costs, investors might overlook the broader implications of their investment choices, ultimately resulting in underperformance or unexpected losses.
Themes
InvestingIronyCostsReturnsOpportunity
In practice
Example use cases
In a financial seminar discussing the importance of understanding market dynamics.
More from John C. Bogle
All quotes βWhen our financial system - essentially our money managers, marketers of investment products and stockbrokers - put up zero percent of the capital and assume zero percent of the risk yet receive fully 80% of the return, something has gone terribly wrong in our financial system.
John C. BogleRead
Entrepreneurs or international conglomerateurs, or large financial institutions buy or create mutual fund management companies to create a return on their own capital. It's capitalism at work, where the rewards tend to go to the managers rather than the investors.
John C. BogleRead
Net return is simply the gross return of your investment portfolio less the costs you incur. Keep your investment expenses low, for the tyranny of compounding costs can devastate the miracle of compounding returns.
John C. BogleRead
Investing is a virtuous habit best started as early as possible.
John C. BogleRead
Wise investors won't try to outsmart the market.
John C. BogleRead
Similar quotes
Families rely on financial services more than ever, but those who need them most - who struggle to make ends meet - too often must contend with sky-high interest rates and tricks and traps buried in the fine print of their loan products.
Elizabeth WarrenRead
A stock certificate is not a tool, like a shovel, or a commodity, like a pound of cheese. What we sell a customer is not a share in a business, but a view of the Elysian Fields. A financier is a creative artist. Our function is to stimulate the imagination. We are poets!
Jean GiraudouxRead
At long as a stock is acting right, and the market is right, do not be in a hurry to take profits. One should never permit speculative ventures to run into investments.
Jesse Lauriston LivermoreRead
Assets put money in your pocket, whether you work or not, and liabilities take money from your pocket.
Robert KiyosakiRead
If nobody can sell mortgage-backed securities based on trillions of dollars of unpayable instruments, there's a lot less risk in the overall system.
Elizabeth WarrenRead
I have a saying: There are no brave old people in finance. Because if you're brave, you mostly get destroyed in your 30s and 40s. If you make it to your 50s and 60s and you're still prospering, you have a very good sense of how to avoid problems and when to be conservative or aggressive with your investments.
Stephen A. SchwarzmanRead