The Man that Made FIRE Possible

Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!

If you think that you can, one day, be financially independent and retire early (FIRE), then there is one person that you should be very grateful to.

His name was John Clifton “Jack” Bogle and he was the founder of Vanguard, a firm that first pioneered low cost index funds in 1976 and which today has $7.2 trillion under management and 30 million investors around the world.

The investment philosophy that underpins Vanguard created more wealth for retail investors than any other investment firm, by keeping management fees at the very minimum and by structuring the company as client-owned, ensuring that the clients’ best interest would always be followed.

And yet, in spite of its phenomenal financial success, Jack Bogle’s ideas were, and still are criticised by large groups of financial professionals who believe in actively managed funds and, more importantly, believe even more in extracting higher fees from their investors.

The Rise and Fall

Bogle’s family lost everything during the Great Depression and only his academic record and hard work helped him secure a place first at Blair Academy and later at Princeton University, where he graduated…