It's both true and obvious that buying index funds externalizes the cost of researching equities. However, active investors engage in self-delusion that they c

It's both true and obvious that buying index funds externalizes the cost of researching equities. However, active investors engage in self-delusion that they can somehow beat the market. Unless they have highly rare insider information, this isn't true, and the top 25% of fund managers are simply that because the bottom 75% is other fund managers. So it's your trilemma--delude yourself, externalize the cost of research, or watch inflation erode the value of your savings. I'm comfortable with my choice.