Rating: 
Summary: Wisdom repeated to the point of boredom
Review: Bogle has some very compelling points to make that would greatly simplify investment decisions and lower the stress levels of many investors. His main point--buy and hold a low-cost, tax-efficient, no-load, broadly-based U.S. market index fund for the long haul (hint: consider Vanguard)--could have been stated once or twice prominently instead of boringly dozens of times with endless charts and statistics. I also found his references to the stock market and inflation rates dating back to the 1800's to be largely irrelevant given the changes in the nature of the markets and economy since then. While Bogle makes a particularly good point about how management fees really eat into bond fund returns, he doesn't really acknowledge the long-term advantages to holding bonds outright over holding them in mutual funds at all. You can glean Bogle's key points of wisdom with a quick skim of the book; if you need to be convinced over and over and over again from different angles--and many of the same ones--then by all means consider this as good bedtime reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb, even if a bit Repetitive
Review: Despite the prosaic title of the book, and the conservative investment philosophy of its author, "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" has a revolutionary aim. Vanguard founder John Bogle believes the mutual fund industry must make major changes in order to faithfully serve its customers and, by explaining his investment philosophy, he shows both why radical change is necessary for the industry and helps to precipitate it by encouraging individual investors to follow his investment advice. Bogle thinks too many mutual fund investors are being scammed by professional managers of funds who reward their companies instead of their investors' portfolios. High fees, outrageous expenses, rapid turnover, unneeded "products", marketing costs -- all are used by countless mutual fund companies to inflate their bottom lines to the detriment of their investors' needs. Several reviewers here have noted that Bogle repeats several key points throughout the book, especially the importance of keeping costs as low as possible. This is true. But important lessons need to be stressed, especially with so much evidence that the average investor still doesn't understand them. Perhaps Bogle feels it's a lesson that can't be said enough. After all, why would you pay more for less, unless you simply don't understand what is being done to you? This book was somewhat prescient. Published near the end of the long bull market of the 1980 and 90s, "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" called out -- in its own quiet and understated way -- for reform of the mutual fund industry before it became fashionable to do so. While Bogle's book doesn't have an angry tone, its recommendations are essentially more radical than anything now being considered by New York's attorney general in his drive to reform the industry.
Rating:
Summary: Superb, even if a bit Repetitive
Review: Despite the prosaic title of the book, and the conservative investment philosophy of its author, "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" has a revolutionary aim. Vanguard founder John Bogle believes the mutual fund industry must make major changes in order to faithfully serve its customers and, by explaining his investment philosophy, he shows both why radical change is necessary for the industry and helps to precipitate it by encouraging individual investors to follow his investment advice. Bogle thinks too many mutual fund investors are being scammed by professional managers of funds who reward their companies instead of their investors' portfolios. High fees, outrageous expenses, rapid turnover, unneeded "products", marketing costs -- all are used by countless mutual fund companies to inflate their bottom lines to the detriment of their investors' needs. Several reviewers here have noted that Bogle repeats several key points throughout the book, especially the importance of keeping costs as low as possible. This is true. But important lessons need to be stressed, especially with so much evidence that the average investor still doesn't understand them. Perhaps Bogle feels it's a lesson that can't be said enough. After all, why would you pay more for less, unless you simply don't understand what is being done to you? This book was somewhat prescient. Published near the end of the long bull market of the 1980 and 90s, "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" called out -- in its own quiet and understated way -- for reform of the mutual fund industry before it became fashionable to do so. While Bogle's book doesn't have an angry tone, its recommendations are essentially more radical than anything now being considered by New York's attorney general in his drive to reform the industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Bogel is half right and half misleading
Review: I was disappointed that John Bogel having connected historical earnings to market performance over the long term missed the historical relationship of P/E to inflation. He called P/E expansion "speculation" and P/E contraction the reversal of the same. Not true.
Market P/E's are connected directly by market forces to real returns in investment alternatives. Equities have averaged earnings growth close to 6.2%. (This is another miscalculation-better to look at the earnings channel and calculate the slope of this channel because earnings do have a wobble year-to-year. This is in contrast to Bogel's surprisingly simplistic approach of selecting a simple beginning point to end point analysis.) The P/E's of the 1955-1965 period were very close to 20 because rates were low and inflation was near 1-2% range. This changed as inflation began to creep into the market in 1965, read this as excessive government spending w/Great Society and Vietnam, and was sustained thru 1982 when Volcker took the steps to reverse it. The IBES Model that maps the 10yr Treasury yield vs the SP500 earnings yield explains the last 25yrs quite well. The SP500's P/E of less than 7 in 1982 is related to a market earnings yield of 15%-16% while the 10Yr Treas was at 15%. These yields fell closely together for the next 20yrs thus showing that the market P/E adjusted to a competitive environment. Only from 1995-2000 did the speculative excess eventually have the market 60% OVERVALUED.
Bogel is biased to selling his Vanguard Funds and his analysis stops well short of acceptable analysis.
Further, although the average manager does not do much for investors, there certainly are superior managers whose records are sustained over time. These managers represent the top 10% and they are not that hard to find once you start to look. Just recognize that markets have cycles that factor into near term manager investment returns. Don't buy at the top! Even the best manager will give you short-term disappointment if you buy at the top.
Rating:
Summary: Index funds are still managed! C'mon Bogle.
Review: If we were not a democracy someone would lock this guy up. He has spilled all the beans on the fake financial advisors and financial and insurance sales people that want to sell you the grotesque front end loaded mutual funds and those annuities that make piles of money for everyone except for the investor. Bogle founded one of the biggest mutual fund groups in America - the Vanguard Group - and he is a burr under the saddle of many financial people. His advice saves you money at the expense of the broker. The bitter truth is that over the long haul only 10% of mutual funds outperform the conservative S&P 500 index. So why pay some company a front end load fund of 5-7% to under-perform the S&P 500 plus an annual fee of 1.5% when you can buy S&P index shares or Vanguard mutual funds that have no load fees, and have very low annual expenses - often less than 0.5% per annum. You end up giving away a chuck of your money if you do not follow his sound advice. Bogle of course does not want to stop there. He wants to reign in all those CEO perks and huge bonuses and use the leverage of the mutual fund shareholders. All great stuff, This is a case where Amazon.com should have a special 6 star category. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Index funds are still managed! C'mon Bogle.
Review: In waging his crusade against actively managed funds, Bogle loses sight of the fact that even index funds are managed nonetheless. Take the popular Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which is indexed to S&P 500. He still cannot dodge the question: Who decides which stock gets listed or delisted? It's S&P itself, which manages the index. But why does he suppose that S&P is always a better managing institution than the best mutual fund companies that actively manage their funds?
Arguably, most fund managers can't outperform the indexes, but that does NOT mean that no managers actively managing their funds ever outperform the indexes. If you have to put money in the market, why not go for the best? And sure, managers can blow up too, but you can still diversify amongst the best managed funds. As to costs, sure, index funds have small expenses compared to actively managed funds, but index funds have a serious drawback--usually a lot more volatility that makes owning them riskier. Investing is not just about keeping expenses to a minimum--important as it is. Neither is it merely about performance. It's also about controlling risks and preserving capital. I for one wouldn't want to own a fund--even for the long term and however cheap--if it's up 40% one year, down 30% the next, and then up %25% still the next and so on. I'm willing to pay more knowing that my capital would be preserved even in a down market. No index funds can be compared to the safety and nonvolatile nature of such funds as SGENX, OAKBX, MERFX and MVALX, which have very low betas. Bogle's indexing approach is for me a sure path to mediocrity. If you have to put money in the market, why not go for the best funds with a long-term market-beating track record and consistent returns? To reduce management-related risks, why not also diversify amongst the best managed funds? That said, I don't mean to say that you should not own index funds at all.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best on mutual funds
Review: It took me years to finally figure out that "passive" investing in mutual funds is the absolute best way to build a retirement fund. Mr. Bogle has an intimate relationship with index funds because he, via Vanguard, blazed the path when all others doubted indexing. As a CPA and MBA and CFP to boot I have spent a fair amount of time and effort trying to "beat the market" only to learn that matching the market is the best strategy for the long haul. Had I simply invested according to his precepts I would have parlayed a lot more money with a lot less effort. It IS a hard book to read for those not used to technical terms. But "stay the course" as John would say, and you (and your money) will be amply rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: Other books to consider
Review: John Bogle is a nice guy, but he is dead wrong about the stock market and about active management of mutual funds. His thesis: All performance regresses to the mean, therefore you cannot beat the market over time. Better to buy the market via index funds, do so at lowest cost, and hold for the long term. That approach guarantees slightly better than average performance. Much better approach: rank order all no-load mutual funds by alpha, and select a diversified portfolio of those at the top according to your asset allocation profile. Monitor alphas over time. Periodically rebalance, but especially replace any mutual fund when its alpha falls below 0 with one that has a positive alpha. You will end up with a dollar balance far above that following Bogel's advice. I am surprised that Don Phillips, head of Morningstar,Inc. does not know this.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for investors
Review: John Bogle uses a lot of data and rationalism to hit home the point. This is an excellent book for people wanting to start investing in the stock market, especially mutual funds. This book is also a good guide for the people who have been burnt by the markets recently and want to start afresh. John repeats his point again and again in multiple ways to make sure the readers get what he is trying to convey. I have also been a big fan of Vanguard. You might also want to read - "A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel".
Rating:
Summary: Essential content if you own mutual funds
Review: John C. Bogle founded Vanguard, the premier indexed mutual fund company. If you invest in mutual funds, especially if you invest in managed mutual funds, you must read this book. He reveals his intensely compelling case for passive management of funds (ie indexing) versus active management (ie stock-picking, market-timing, hot-manager style) funds. Most people these days hold the bulk of their investment assets in pension funds, IRAs or 401Ks usually consisting of mutual funds, and this audience will gain significant insight from Bogle's advice. Bogle also campaigns to save the mutual fund trader from herself, relentlessly presenting the mutual fund as a buy-and-hold investment vehicle. Those who have read a few other books on investing may find Bogle's single-mindedness and thoroughness a bit tedious. I found myself skimming for content throughout the book and especially after the first 14 chapters, finding the later material more visionary and less relevant to my investing. A good editor could probably reduce the bulk of the text by a half or two-thirds and retain the central ideas. By the way, you can get much of this material (for example, the chapter on bond funds) from the Vanguard web site under the "Bogle Lectures." All the ideas are there - they're what the company is based on. Save a few bucks - reduce your investing costs - "costs matter" as Bogle will tell you again and again.
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