Getting started

Welcome to the Bogleheads®! First things first. Don't panic! There's a lot of information available to help. Take your time and get organized.

The Bogleheads® motto is Investing Advice Inspired by Jack Bogle. We are part of his crusade "to give ordinary investors a fair shake."

The 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 our investing principles.

Introduction
Bogleheads® emphasize regular saving, broad diversification, and sticking to one's investment plan regardless of market conditions. We follow a small number of simple investment principles that have been shown over time to produce risk-adjusted returns far greater than those achieved by the average investor. They have been further distilled and explained in thousands of posts on the forum.

The power of the wiki is its ability to link content. If a topic has a link, there's more material available. This is not a structured course. Use those links to explore anything you want, and consider bookmarking this page in case you get lost. The site navigation page contains a comprehensive topic list which can be used to navigate to specific topics you are interested in. The start-up kits below are designed to help you begin or improve your investing journey. Once you get familiar with the content you could benefit from the for quick access to specific topics.

Bogleheads® investment philosophy
We suggest you start your journey by reading the Bogleheads® investment philosophy first, which is summarized below. Next, choose the start-up kit that fits your situation and dive in!

Personal finance planning start-up kit
Are you ready to invest? Personal finance is more than just investing. Take a step back and look at the big picture. Investing only comes after you have a sound financial footing. Topics such as budgeting, owning versus renting a home, insurance, saving for college, and charity are covered here.

Investing start-up kit
Start your investing experience here. For those who want a quick introduction to investment planning, see this

Retirement Planning Start-Up Kit
Retirement topics are covered here; such as employer retirement plans (401(k)), planning for retirement, and spending during retirement.

Asking questions
If you have questions on any investing or finance topic, just ask in the Bogleheads&reg; forum. No question is too simple or too complex. If you have a specific question, dive right in.

If you have a complex or general investment concern, please refer to this.

Recommended References

 * Suggested Start-up books
 * Bogleheads' Recommended Investing Books - Forum recommendations for new investors
 * Additional recommended books and reviews - Wiki book listing with reviews