7 ms·

This book taught me the fundamentals of passive investing (https://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393330338 https://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-

by yonibot 10y ago

This book taught me the fundamentals of passive investing (https://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393330338 https://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/03933...) and this website is THE online community for Bogle-style, passive investors (https://www.bogleheads.org/ https://www.bogleheads.org/), once you understand the basics.

hackerboos 10y ago
I read that book this year. The entire book can be summarised as. Don't attempt to beat the market. The market cannot be beat (many examples in the book). Invest in index funds long term which is the right mix of risk/reward for most people. It does have a chart in the back which tracks your age and situation. For example as you approach retirement you should start to liquidate your funds and buy government bonds so you aren't hit by a bad year when you have to start drawing on your investments. It did convince me. I opened accounts with Wealthsimple and Questrade the next day. A great site for fellow Canadians is http://canadiancouchpotato.com/ http://canadiancouchpotato.com/ - you can skip the book.
- late2part 10y ago
  Why did you choose Wealthsimple and Questrade instead of Vanguard like a lot of people on bogleheads recommend?
  - paviva 10y ago
    You can't buy directly from Vanguard in Canada. Questrade is essentially a very low cost broker (low as in free for ETFs).
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - hobonumber1 10y ago
      You can buy certain Vanguard Funds from Canada. For example: VAB, VSB, VCN.
      - Huppie 10y ago
        I think you misunderstood the parent. All three examples are ETFs with Canadian assets, available on the Canadian stock exchange. OP's point is (most likely) that you can't buy them directly from Vanguard (i.e. using an account on www.vanguardcanada.ca) but will have to buy them using a broker (e.g. Questrade.)
        paviva 10y ago
        Thanks Huppie, that's exactly what I was saying.
- qwrusz 10y ago
  That's a great summary and advice! It's crazy there is this giant industry of overpaid people that exists only because people don't listen to that advice. Disclaimer: I work in said industry.
- Rainymood 10y ago
  >The market cannot be beat. I really would like to believe this, but please explain to me how then how firms like Renaissance can exist ... Not sure whether it's relevant but I'll add that I'm an economics PhD student.
  - chei0iaV 10y ago
    Two decades ago you might have asked how firms like Long-Term Capital Management can exist https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/LTCM.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/LTCM.png
    - gragas 10y ago
      That's a ridiculous argument. From that graph, LTCM lasted 4 years. Renaissance has lasted decades.
  - qwrusz 10y ago
    The market cannot be beat by 100% of amateurs piddling away on their brokerage account during a few spare hours a week. The market cannot be beat by 99.9% of professional investors spending all their time day and night trying and with a team of people helping them. I'm calling your bluff on you being an econ PhD student or maybe you have been one for a month or two at most...? If you are an econ grad student you know what RenTec is doing more or less. At least in theory if not specifics, people talk and there's plenty of econ papers explaining what's underneath major quant strategies. People need to chill bringing up RenTec when finance comes up (Buffett too). Just like they need to chill bringing up Facebook when talking about startup valuations. Outliers are outliers.
    - jamez1 10y ago
      Academia doesn't pay that much attention to the real world. Most of the papers out there are rubbish and would be considered junior level work, except with way too much detail. There are pretty much no econ papers that would describe what happens inside the high end systematic firms. (Source: I work in the industry) Bringing up the outliers is a perfect counterexample when wild sweeping statements are made. These are not even real outliers, they are valid samples. >The market cannot be beat by 99.9% of professional investors spending all their time day and night trying and with a team of people helping them. Professional investors pretty consistently beat the market. But not the ones that you see. The louder someone markets their fund, the more likely it is to be a scam. Your sample is of guys who heavily promote their fund and make money from management fees not performance. The best managers aren't even made visible to you. Why would you attract attention to what you're doing if you have a good thing going?
- module0000 10y ago
  This is good advice, attempting to beat the market is something that everyone tries at least once, and repeats until they learn that it is futile. There are bigger interests than the "richest investor you know", and those interests will always win. Every single damn time. Instead, just follow them, and ride the wave.
- kieranr 10y ago
  How are you finding Wealthsimple? Can't speak to the tool itself, but the site design and overall aesthetic looks gorgeous..
- jamez1 10y ago
  > The market cannot be beat On average, and when bench-marked against itself taking into account fees. There are funds that consistently beat the market, that you should put money into over the index if given the chance. But your general notion that the average person shouldn't try is a good one. At the end of the day you have to earn money because you took it from someone else. To think that there is a dollar for everyone is to ignore this simple truth.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - stouset 10y ago
    Of course some funds beat the market. The problem is, there is no reliable way to know what those funds are until after they have done so.
    - jamez1 10y ago
      It depends on your definition of reliability. Is driving a car reliable? There's no way of knowing it will crash but that doesn't stop you from getting in one. You see it as a problem, if you are used to the idea of earning money instead of taking money I get that angle. But to investors it's not a problem but a fact of life.
sn9 10y ago
Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to be Rich is the personal finance book that introduced me to all the basics (e.g., paying off debts, how credit scores work, why not investing in index funds across diverse asset classes is moronic, etc.). Dead practical advice despite the somewhat sleazy writing style (see title of book).

by yonibot 10y ago

hackerboos 10y ago

I read that book this year. The entire book can be summarised as. Don't attempt to beat the market. The market cannot be beat (many examples in the book). Invest in index funds long term which is the right mix of risk/reward for most people. It does have a chart in the back which tracks your age and situation. For example as you approach retirement you should start to liquidate your funds and buy government bonds so you aren't hit by a bad year when you have to start drawing on your investments. It did convince me. I opened accounts with Wealthsimple and Questrade the next day. A great site for fellow Canadians is http://canadiancouchpotato.com/ http://canadiancouchpotato.com/ - you can skip the book.

late2part 10y ago
Why did you choose Wealthsimple and Questrade instead of Vanguard like a lot of people on bogleheads recommend?
- paviva 10y ago
  You can't buy directly from Vanguard in Canada. Questrade is essentially a very low cost broker (low as in free for ETFs).
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - hobonumber1 10y ago
    You can buy certain Vanguard Funds from Canada. For example: VAB, VSB, VCN.
    - Huppie 10y ago
      I think you misunderstood the parent. All three examples are ETFs with Canadian assets, available on the Canadian stock exchange. OP's point is (most likely) that you can't buy them directly from Vanguard (i.e. using an account on www.vanguardcanada.ca) but will have to buy them using a broker (e.g. Questrade.)
      - paviva 10y ago
        Thanks Huppie, that's exactly what I was saying.
qwrusz 10y ago
That's a great summary and advice! It's crazy there is this giant industry of overpaid people that exists only because people don't listen to that advice. Disclaimer: I work in said industry.
Rainymood 10y ago
>The market cannot be beat. I really would like to believe this, but please explain to me how then how firms like Renaissance can exist ... Not sure whether it's relevant but I'll add that I'm an economics PhD student.
- chei0iaV 10y ago
  Two decades ago you might have asked how firms like Long-Term Capital Management can exist https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/LTCM.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/LTCM.png
  - gragas 10y ago
    That's a ridiculous argument. From that graph, LTCM lasted 4 years. Renaissance has lasted decades.
- qwrusz 10y ago
  The market cannot be beat by 100% of amateurs piddling away on their brokerage account during a few spare hours a week. The market cannot be beat by 99.9% of professional investors spending all their time day and night trying and with a team of people helping them. I'm calling your bluff on you being an econ PhD student or maybe you have been one for a month or two at most...? If you are an econ grad student you know what RenTec is doing more or less. At least in theory if not specifics, people talk and there's plenty of econ papers explaining what's underneath major quant strategies. People need to chill bringing up RenTec when finance comes up (Buffett too). Just like they need to chill bringing up Facebook when talking about startup valuations. Outliers are outliers.
  - jamez1 10y ago
    Academia doesn't pay that much attention to the real world. Most of the papers out there are rubbish and would be considered junior level work, except with way too much detail. There are pretty much no econ papers that would describe what happens inside the high end systematic firms. (Source: I work in the industry) Bringing up the outliers is a perfect counterexample when wild sweeping statements are made. These are not even real outliers, they are valid samples. >The market cannot be beat by 99.9% of professional investors spending all their time day and night trying and with a team of people helping them. Professional investors pretty consistently beat the market. But not the ones that you see. The louder someone markets their fund, the more likely it is to be a scam. Your sample is of guys who heavily promote their fund and make money from management fees not performance. The best managers aren't even made visible to you. Why would you attract attention to what you're doing if you have a good thing going?
module0000 10y ago
This is good advice, attempting to beat the market is something that everyone tries at least once, and repeats until they learn that it is futile. There are bigger interests than the "richest investor you know", and those interests will always win. Every single damn time. Instead, just follow them, and ride the wave.
kieranr 10y ago
How are you finding Wealthsimple? Can't speak to the tool itself, but the site design and overall aesthetic looks gorgeous..
jamez1 10y ago
> The market cannot be beat On average, and when bench-marked against itself taking into account fees. There are funds that consistently beat the market, that you should put money into over the index if given the chance. But your general notion that the average person shouldn't try is a good one. At the end of the day you have to earn money because you took it from someone else. To think that there is a dollar for everyone is to ignore this simple truth.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- stouset 10y ago
  Of course some funds beat the market. The problem is, there is no reliable way to know what those funds are until after they have done so.
  - jamez1 10y ago
    It depends on your definition of reliability. Is driving a car reliable? There's no way of knowing it will crash but that doesn't stop you from getting in one. You see it as a problem, if you are used to the idea of earning money instead of taking money I get that angle. But to investors it's not a problem but a fact of life.

sn9 10y ago

Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to be Rich is the personal finance book that introduced me to all the basics (e.g., paying off debts, how credit scores work, why not investing in index funds across diverse asset classes is moronic, etc.). Dead practical advice despite the somewhat sleazy writing style (see title of book).