The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life

The great irony of successful investing is that simple is cheaper and more profitable. Complicated investments only benefit the people and companies that sell them.
Remember that nobody will care for your money better than you. With less effort than choosing an advisor, you can learn to manage your money yourself, with far less cost and better results

Inflation certainly played a role. Using the CPI (consumer price index), what cost $1 in 1970 took $6.19 to buy in 2014. A six-fold increase.

In the same time period, a 4-year state school college education went from $4,800 to $160,000. A 33-fold increase.

It’s not hard. Stop thinking about what your money can buy. Start thinking about what your money can earn. And then think about what the money it earns can earn. Once you begin to do this, you’ll start to see that when you spend money, not only is that money gone forever, the money it might have earned is gone as well. And so on.

Professional money managers are measured against how well they do against this return. As we’ve seen, in any given year most underperform their target index. Indeed, over periods of 15 to 30 years, the index will outperform 82% to 99% of actively managed funds.
This means just buying a total stock market index fund like VTSAX guarantees you’ll be in the top performance tier. Year after year. Not bad for accepting “average.” I can live (and prosper) with that kind of average

For my money (pun intended), no one has done more for the individual investor than Mr. Bogle. From launching Vanguard and its unique structure that benefits shareholders to creating index funds; he is a Titan in the financial industry, an investing saint and a personal hero.
Now in his 80s, here’s what he has to say about successfully besting the market: “I’ve been in this business 61 years and I can’t do it. I’ve never met anybody who can do it. I’ve never met anybody who’s met anybody who can do it.”
Neither have I.

The point is that to play this market timing game well even once, you need to be right twice: First you need to call the high. Then you need to call the low. And you must be able to do this repeatedly. The world is filled with sad investors who got the first right and then sat on the sidelines while the market recovered and marched right on past its old high.
Market timing is an un-winnable game over time. How can I be so sure?
Simple:
The person who could reliably do this would be far richer than Warren Buffett, and twice as lionized.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, would be more profitable than this ability. That’s what makes it so seductive. That’s why gurus constantly claim they can do it, even if only a tiny bit. Nobody can. Not really. Not in any consistently useful way. Believing in Santa Claus is more profitable. Breeding unicorns is more likely

There are many things money can buy, but the most valuable of all is freedom. Freedom to do what you want and to work for whom you respect.
Those who live paycheck to paycheck are slaves. Those who carry debt are slaves with even stouter shackles. Don’t think for a moment that their masters aren’t aware of it

So now I’m (again) retired and it feels great. I love not having to keep regular hours. I can stay up till 4 am and sleep till noon. Or I can get up at 4:30 and watch the sun rise. I can ride my motorbike any time the weather or my pals beckon. I can hang around New Hampshire or disappear for months at a time to South America. I post on my blog when the spirit moves me and I might even get another book or two written. Or I can just sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and read the books others have written.
One of my very few regrets is that I spent far too much time worrying about how things might work out. It’s a huge waste, but it is a bit hardwired into me. Don’t do it.
The older I get the more I hold each day precious. I’ve become steadily more relentless in purging from my life things, activities and people who no longer add value while seeking out and adding those that do.
It’s a big beautiful world out there. Money is a small part of it. But F-You Money buys you the freedom, resources and time to explore it on your own terms. Retired or not. Enjoy your journey

If it looks too good to be true, it is.

The market always recovers. Always.