Stay the Course – Wise words from the Inventor of the Index Fund

As I head into my 23rd year as a stock market investor, and my 10th year as the co-founder and President of Boodle, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the struggles and the triumphs of long-term investing, and who better to study as a role model than the legendary creator of the Index fund and the founder of Vanguard, Mr. Jack Bogle.
Mr. Bogle has  written many books on the subject of investing and mutual funds, and his 2019 book, “Stay the Course” was an enjoyable read, and in this blog, I will attempt to do it justice and share my impressions of this enjoyable read.
Jack Bogle is perhaps the greatest friend that a retail investor like you and I could hope to have in the mutual fund industry! There are many creations that I stand in awe of, and his 1974 creation of the first Index mutual is near the top of that list!
In his book, Stay the Course , Mr. Bogle shares his decades of wisdom with the reader in an easy to understand writing style, and you really get a true sense of how he created, not just the Index Fund, but Vanguard as well!
Bogle, talks about creating Vanguard in 1974 and how his vision was to be different from other mutual fund companies by making sure the shareholders in the mutual funds came first, not the fund family. In Chapter 4 he writes about his proudest creation, the S&P 500 Index fund. Mr. Bogle created this fund to replicate the performance of the S&P 500 Index, minus a small fee, or expense ratio if you will. This fund was not a sure thing, and it faced many hurtles, not the least of which was attracting potential investors of the fund.
Stay the course takes us into the mutual fund industry as only someone who saw it all could do. We learn about the motives of companies in the mutual fund and why so often, the shareholder is the last person who is listened to, by not only the mutual funds, but also by government agencies that don’t appear to be looking out for you and me, the little guy.
We learn a great deal about Mr. Bogle’s personal life and what forces drove him to risk nearly everything on his way to creating a company that manages more than five trillion dollars in investor money!
The final chapter of the book is spent in reflection on Mr. Bogle’s life and what meant the most to him and what the reader of his book could take solace in learning. My favorite part of the final chapter in Stay the Course was a story Mr. Bogle related about a Vanguard employee who jumped ship (so to speak) and went to work for a Vanguard rival. To keep tabs on this ex-employee and investigate what the competition was up to, Mr. Bogle purchased 100 shares of his rival’s stock. The initial investment grew from $4200 to in 1994 into $384,000 in 2018! Mr. Bogle has left us, but his wisdom and knowledge will serve all who dare to follow his path and Stay the Course.