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Costs & staying the course

The Four Pillars of Investing

William Bernstein

Theory, history, psychology and business together make an investor - a sensible mix held through the scary parts beats any clever pick.

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Chapters

14
  1. Chapter 01No Guts, No GloryBig returns only come to people willing to sit through frightening drops.Read this chapter →
  2. Chapter 02Measuring the BeastA market's future return is roughly its dividend yield plus how fast those dividends grow.Read this chapter →
  3. Chapter 03The Market Is Smarter Than You AreThousands of pros already priced in everything you know, so beating them cheaply is near-impossible.Read this chapter →
  4. Chapter 04The Perfect PortfolioNo one knows the winning mix in advance, so spread widely and rebalance.Read this chapter →
  5. Chapter 05Tops: A History of ManiasEvery bubble runs on a thrilling new story and the belief that old rules no longer apply.Read this chapter →
  6. Chapter 06Bottoms: The Agony and the OpportunityThe best future returns are bought when things feel worst and prices are cheap.Read this chapter →
  7. Chapter 07MisbehaviorYour own brain - overconfident, herd-following, pattern-seeing - is the biggest threat to your returns.Read this chapter →
  8. Chapter 08Behavioral TherapyBeat your worst instincts by automating and following a written rule instead of a feeling.Read this chapter →
  9. Chapter 09Your Broker Is Not Your BuddyA broker is a salesperson paid when you trade, not a friend guarding your money.Read this chapter →
  10. Chapter 10Neither Is Your Mutual FundFund fees are certain and compound against you, while last year's star rarely stays a star.Read this chapter →
  11. Chapter 11Oliver Stone Meets Wall StreetFinancial TV and magazines exist to sell ads and thrills, not to make you rich.Read this chapter →
  12. Chapter 12Will You Have Enough?How much you save, and how slowly you spend it later, decide retirement far more than clever picking.Read this chapter →
  13. Chapter 13Defining Your MixChoose one stock-versus-bond split that fits your age, nerves and needs - then own it.Read this chapter →
  14. Chapter 14Getting Started, Keeping It GoingStart simply, invest on a fixed schedule, then mostly leave it alone for decades.Read this chapter →

This is my own plain-English understanding of the book’s ideas, in my own words with my own ₹ examples, laid out against the book’s real chapters so you can relate the two. It is not the book and reproduces none of its text - if it helps, please buy the book. Not affiliated with the author or publisher. The author is not SEBI-registered; nothing here is investment advice.