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Bogleheads® wiki - Investing Advice Inspired by Jack Bogle Academics Asset classes Employer provided retirement plans ETFs and mutual funds Financial planning Indexing International domiciles Investing Personal retirement plans Retirement planning Tax considerations Complete list... Academics Asset classes Employer provided retirement plans ETFs and mutual funds Financial planning Indexing International domiciles Investing Personal retirement plans Retirement planning Tax considerations Complete list...

 

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 tolerance is an investor’s 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?"

Knowing your emotional tolerance for investment risk means knowing yourself and your unique goals and needs - and it is not easy. (more...)

 

This week in financial history

August 14:

• 1935 - The Social Security Act was signed into US law; establishing the Social Security Administration. Source: Social Security Act

August 15:

• 1971 - The United States stopped converting dollars to gold, ending the gold standard. Source: Milestones - Office of the Historian

August 17:

• 1989 - Vanguard introduced small cap stock indexing in the US market by converting Naess & Thomas Special Fund into an index fund based on the Russell 2000 Index.

August 19:

• 1983 - The Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) made one of the largest municipal bond defaults (2.25 billion dollars) in U.S financial history on August 19, 1983. A 1988 settlement rendered some investors 40 cents on every dollar invested; other investors received 10 cents on the dollar. Sources: Bank asks Debt Payoff, NY Times; Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), HistoryLink.org

August 20:

• 1996 - The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 enacted the creation of the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees Individual Retirement Account (SIMPLE), a contributory retirement plan for US small business employees. The Act (in Sec. 1806) also exempted a qualified State tuition program from taxation. These qualified tuition programs were to be called 529 plans, because 529 is the section of the Internal Revenue Code that governs their operation.

 

Can't find what you're looking for?

Use the wiki's Search box. Or, start from a top-level overview using Site navigation. A complete article list is also available.

You can search or register to ask a question on the Bogleheads forum, or browse recent forum posts from the Bogleheads' home page. We're also on Facebook.

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

Anyone can read the wiki. If you would like to edit it, you must first join the Bogleheads forum. Once you've joined, send a private message requesting access, and you can then become an editor. Information on editing the wiki is available on the left sidebar of every wiki page. Suggestions are welcome by posting in Suggestions for the Wiki.

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.