History will remember Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Group, as the great democratizer of capitalism, the person who made it possible for just about everyone to afford to buy a stake in stocks and bonds.
I will remember him as the most extraordinary combination of stubbornness and flexibility I have ever encountered. Mr. Bogle died on Jan. 16 at the age of 89.
His achievements—creating the first index fund for individual investors, lowering the costs of investing almost to the vanishing point—are all the more remarkable because, for him, life itself was a near-death experience.
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This article was originally published on The Wall Street Journal.
Further reading
John C. Bogle, Common Sense on Mutual Funds
Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor
Jason Zweig, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary
Jason Zweig, Your Money and Your Brain
Jason Zweig, The Little Book of Safe Money