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The typical fund company services 401k plan participants in the same way that Baby Face Nelson serviced banks.

William J. Bernstein

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William J. Bernstein
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: January 1
Author
Chemist
Economist
Neurologist
Writer
Way
Fund
Investing
Plan
Plans
Nelson
Baby
Participants
Company
Banks
Face
Services
Faces
Typical

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No one in his right mind would walk into the cockpit of an airplane and try to fly it, or into an operating theater and open a belly. And yet they think nothing of managing their retirement assets. I've done all three, and I'm here to tell you that managing money is, in its most critical elements even more demanding than the first two.
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There are two kinds of investors, be they large or small: those who don't know where the market is headed and those who don't know what they don't know. Then again, there is a third type of investor: the investment professional, who indeed knows he doesn't know, but whose livelihood depends upon appearing to know.
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The key thing about any fund is to make sure its expenses are low. You know, if you look at the funds in your plan and you see that they're all charging 1.5 and 2 percent,you've gota bad plan.
William J. Bernstein
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If your broker or investment advisor is not familiar with the concept of standard deviation of returns, get a new one.
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You have to ask yourself, what are the things that matter to you most in your life? If you have to have a latte every day that'snice to have right now, but if you take that latte every day right now, you may wind up eating cat food when you are 70. And you have to decide which is worse.
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For the taxable investor, indexing means never having to say you're sorry.
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Wall Street is littered with the bones of those who knew just what to do, but could not bring themselves to do it.
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The reason that 'guru' is such a popular word is because 'charlatan' is so hard to spell.
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The essence of effective portfolio construction is the use of a large number of poorly correlated assets.
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The deeper one delves, the worse things look for actively managed funds.
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A fast food job, for most people, should be an entry level position. If you see no path for advancement beyond that, it's time to take a real fast look at your human capital and learn a skill that will make you more money.
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It's human nature to find patterns where there are none and to find skill where luck is a more likely explanation (particularly if you're the lucky manager).
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Market risk is like taking a plunge into a cool pool ... a lot of people are finding out right now what their risk tolerance is.
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All the things that make us human make us terrible investors and you have to understand what they are and how to avoid them.
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Bluntly put, there's no chance that your doctor, dentist, or attorney is a high-school dropout. Your stockbroker, however, just might be.
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99% of fund managers demonstrate no evidence of skill whatsoever.
William J. Bernstein
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Do the math. Expect catastrophes. Whatever happens, stay the course.
William J. Bernstein
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The purpose of investing is not to simply optimise returns and make yourself rich. The purpose is not to die poor.
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Investment success accrues not so much to the brilliant as to the disciplined.
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The definition of investment is the deferring ofpresent consumption for future consumption. So, you dohave to be willing to defer. And there are a couple of tricks that you can use to save money. One of them is simply to pay yourself first.
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