Investing 101
Bogle on Investing (Bogle, 41)
- Invest you must
- Time is your friend
- Impulse is your enemy
- Basic arithmetic works: low expenses win in the long run
- Stick to simplicity
- Stay the course.
Model Portfolios
Malkiel (347), percents, with suggested funds
- Stocks 50%
- US Stocks 34% (Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund Index)
- Developed International Markets 8.5% (Vanguard International Index Fund)
- Emerging Markets 7.5% (Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund)
- Cash 5% (Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund, or a short term bond fund)
- Bonds 32.5% (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund; also recommends putting 5% in TIPS)
- Real Estate Equities 12.5% (Vanguard REIT Index Fund)
Swenson (84), percents*
- Domestic Equity 30%
- Foreign Equity 15%
- Emerging Market 5%
- Real Estate 20%
- Treasuries 15%
- TIPS 15%
*These are Core Assets of any portfolio (Swenson, 92): "Contribution of a basic, valuable, differentiable characteristic to a portfolio; fundamental reliance on markets, not on active management, to generate returns; and representation in a broad, deep investable market."
References
Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance. The Bankers Who Broke the World. The Penguin Press. 2009.
Bogle, John C. Common Sense on Mutual Funds. Wiley. 2010.
Ellis, Charles D. Winning the Loser's Game. Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing. McGaw-Hill. 2002.
Malkiel, Burton G. A Random Walk Down Wall Street. The Time-tested Strategy for Successful Investing. W. W. Norton & Company. 2007.
Swensen, David F. Unconventional Success. A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment. Free Press. 2005.