Getting started

Welcome to the Bogleheads! [home]

The Bogleheads' site consists of this wiki and the Bogleheads' forum. Both the wiki and forum were built by volunteers who are dedicated to helping people begin or improve their investing journey through the application of the Boglehead investing principles (which are distilled in the table to the right). These principles are more fully explained in Bogleheads Investment Philosophy. We urge you to begin your reading there. The pages linked to below examine in greater depth the precepts laid out in the Bogleheads Investment Philosophy page.

Asking Investment Questions
If you have questions regarding investing, just ask in the Bogleheads' forum. No question is too simple or too complex. If you have a specific question, dive right in. But if you have a complex or general portfolio planning issue, please read through this page and refer to the following guides before posting;


 * Laura’s tips on posting your portfolio and asking related questions
 * Laura’s investment planning overview

Introductory Information

 * Risk - investing at its core is about getting paid for bearing monetary risks. Understanding your portfolio requires an understanding of these risks.
 * Bogleheads Retirement Planning Start-Up Kit
 * Also see the Bogleheads Personal Finance Planning Start-Up Kit

Asset Classes
Different categories of investments, are sometimes described as asset classes. The major ones are stocks, bonds, and cash or cash equivalents. The following pages provide introductions to cash investments; nominal and inflation-indexed bonds; and US and international stocks. Additional information on asset classes, including alternative asset classes can be found in the wiki category Asset Classes.


 * Money Markets
 * Bond Basics
 * Treasury Inflation Protected Securities
 * Stock Basics
 * Domestic/International

Implementing an Investment Plan
As illustrated in our Bogleheads Investment Philosophy page, we advocate allocating our investment capital in well-diversified, low-cost mutual funds. The following pages examine mutual fund costs; provide examples of broadly diversified investment portfolios; and explain portfolio management techniques that help mitigate investment risk and reduce taxes. All of these inputs culminate in the seminal investment roadmap and guide for our investment plan, the Investment Policy Statement.


 * Mutual Funds and Fees
 * Mutual Funds: Additional Costs
 * Indexing
 * Vanguard Target Retirement Funds
 * Lazy Portfolios
 * Principles of Tax-Efficient Fund Placement
 * Rebalancing
 * Tax Loss Harvesting
 * Investment Policy Statement