While it is probably a poor idea to own actively managed funds in general, it is truly a terrible idea to own them in taxable accounts... taxes are a drag on performance of up to 4 percentage points each year... many index funds allow your capital gains to grow largely undisturbed until you sell... For the taxable investor, indexing means never having to say you're sorry.

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

All the things that make us human make us terrible investors and you have to understand what they are and how to avoid them.

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).

The essence of effective portfolio construction is the use of a large number of poorly correlated assets.

For the taxable investor, indexing means never having to say you're sorry.

You have to understand your own psychology. You have to understand that human beings weren't really designed to invest. We have all these emotions that are appropriate responses if you're being chased by a tiger, but they're terrible responses if you've got a 30-year time horizon to think about investment or when you're trying to manage investment over 30 years.