How to be a successful investor

Larry Swedroe, a respected voice for sound investing principles, just released a new edition of his 2015 book, "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha: How to be a successful Investor without picking winners". Like all of Larry's books, this one answers a lot of the questions serious students of investing want to know. in this podcast, Paul reads portions from the book that answer some common questions Paul receives, giving insight into Larry’s common sense and well researched information.

1. For actively-managed funds, how long a track record is enough? This reading focuses on four real time stories that may lead you to conclude that no “real time” record is enough. 9:00

2. Do index funds produce better-than-average returns? In this reading of Larry’s book, he compares the 20-year performance of Vanguard and DFA funds to actively-managed funds in the same asset class. 23:00

3. Do actively-managed funds perform better in bear markets? 29:19

4. How long should disciplined and long-term investors wait to deal with the recent underperformance of value and emerging market asset classes? Larry poses 5 characteristics that the investment must continue to have to answer that question. 36:00

5. What if everyone indexed? 44:10

Mark your calendar for Paul's AAII Zoom presentation, Sept. 23, “Which is the best 1, 2, ,3 or 4 fund strategy?” In the presentation Paul will compare the long-term returns of 10 simple strategies, including from The Bogleheads, Rick Ferri, Warren Buffet, TrevH and, of course, our 4-Fund Combo. You don’t have to be an AAII member to attend. Here is the registration link also available at www.aaii.com/webinars.

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