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Welcome
Welcome to the Bogleheads® wiki, a collaborative undertaking by members of the Bogleheads Community. This wiki is a reference resource for investors. Bogleheads emphasize starting early, living below one's means, regular saving, broad diversification, and sticking to one's investment plan.
If all this seems a bit overwhelming, relax and don't panic. A good place to begin is getting started. Returning visitors may be interested in our new pages.Getting started
- Getting started - Start here.
- Bogleheads® investment philosophy - Our investment principles.
- Bogleheads® investing start-up kit - A top-down approach to start investing.
- Investment policy statement - Identify your investment objectives and how you plan to meet them.
- Bogleheads® personal finance planning start-up kit - Other than investing, such as financial planning, insurance, and saving for college.
- Preparing for retirement - Steps you should take before retiring.
- Prioritizing investments - Choosing where to save your investing money, such as an employer's retirement plan or a savings account.
Today's featured article
Risk is the uncertainty (variation) of an investment's return, which does not distinguish between a loss or a gain. However, investors usually think of risk as the possibility that their investments could lose money.
Risk tolerance is your emotional and psychological ability to endure investment losses during large market declines without selling or undue worry, such as losing sleep. To know whether a portfolio is right for your risk tolerance, you need to be brutally honest with yourself as you try to answer the question, "Will I sell during the next bear market?" (more...)This week in financial history
March 18:
- 1999 - The first edition of John Bogle's classic book, Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor was published by John C. Wiley & Sons.
March 19:
- 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average tops 10,000 points for the first time. Source: Closing milestones of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
March 21:
- 1868 - The Foreign and Colonial Government Trust published the earliest known mutual fund prospectus in London, England. The fund offered shares at 85 pounds sterling. The fund, now known as Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust, still trades on the London Stock Exchange.
- 1924 - The Massachusetts Investment Trust was organized in Boston as a managed fund offering redeemable securities, thus becoming the first open-ended mutual fund in U.S. Source: Business history: advisors
March 22:
- 2000 - The Standard & Poors 500 index closed over 1300 for the first time in history on March 22, 2000. Source: Closing milestones of the S&P 500 Index
March 23:
- 1720 - The South Sea Bill, granting virtual monopoly powers to the South Sea Co., passes in the British House of Commons after six hours of fierce debate, during which the price of South Sea shares fluctuates from 270 to 400.
- 1987 – The Standard & Poors 500 stock index closes above 300 for the first time, less than a year-and-a-half after breaking the 200 barrier. The index finishes the day at 301.16. Source:Closing milestones of the S&P 500 Index
March 24:
- 1995 - The Standard & Poors 500-stock index closed over 500 for the first time. Source:Closing milestones of the S&P 500 Index
- 1998 - The Standard & Poors 500-stock index closed above 1100 for the first time. Source:Closing milestones of the S&P 500 Index
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Our Canadian sister site, Financial Wisdom Forum, and its finiki, the Canadian financial wiki has a similar focus, many like-minded members, and may be of interest as well.Contributing to the wiki
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If you see content in need of improvement, or a new page on a topic not yet covered, consider becoming an editor so that you can contribute to the site. If you find yourself writing a reply to a forum question that's been discussed a number of times before, consider creating a wiki page with the answer. Then you and others can reply to subsequent questions on that topic with a link and a quote of your text. That way, the Bogleheads Community both preserves our knowledge base and makes it more accessible, particularly to those using search engines.