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20 timeless money rules

Money Magazine collected the best advice from some of the smartest investors (and other people) who have ever lived.

Average is the new best
6. Average is the new best
The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund.
--Warren Buffett


Here's the logic behind index funds, which aim simply to match the return of a market index: The average fund in any market will always earn that market's return (because in aggregate investors are the market) minus expenses. Since index funds match the market but have much smaller expenses than other funds, they will always beat the average fund in the long run. It's hard to argue with the math, and history bears it out (see the performance stat at right). Besides, if the Greatest Investor of Our Time believes that index funds are superior for most investors, shouldn't you?

Confucius

Friedrich von Schiller

Benjamin Franklin

Miguel de Cervantes

Gary Brinson, Brian Singer and Gilbert Beebower

Warren Buffett

Edwin Lefevre

Peter Lynch

Jack Bogle

Coco Chanel

Warren Buffett

St. Augustine

Harry Truman

Eleanor Roosevelt

John Kenneth Galbraith

Stanley Kunitz

Pablo Picasso

John Maynard Keynes

Martin Luther King Jr.

Jonathan Swift
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