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Welcome to the Bogleheads^® wiki, a collaborative undertaking by members of the Bogleheads Community. This wiki is a reference resource for investors. Bogleheads emphasize starting early, living below one's means, regular saving, broad diversification, and sticking to one's investment plan.

If all this seems a bit overwhelming, relax and don't panic. A good place to begin is getting started. Returning visitors may be interested in our new pages.

Getting started

• Getting started - Start here.
• Bogleheads® investment philosophy - Our investment principles.
• Bogleheads® investing start-up kit - A top-down approach to start investing.
• Investment policy statement - Identify your investment objectives and how you plan to meet them.
• Bogleheads® personal finance planning start-up kit - Other than investing, such as financial planning, insurance, and saving for college.
• Preparing for retirement - Steps you should take before retiring.
• Prioritizing investments - Choosing where to save your investing money, such as an employer's retirement plan or a savings account.

Today's featured article

An Investment policy statement (IPS) is a statement that defines general investment goals and objectives. It describes the strategies that will be used to meet these objectives and contains specific information on subjects such as asset allocation, risk tolerance, and liquidity requirements.

Consider the use of a simple investing plan (see below):

• For investors challenged by the complexity of an Investment Policy Statement
• When the investment objectives don't justify the effort needed to create an Investment Policy Statement (more...)

This week in financial history

October 23:

• 1961 - The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) was founded on October 23, 1961. Source: TWSE Welcoming Message

October 24:

• 1852 - A group of Toronto businessmen met on October 24, 1852 with the intention of forming an "Association of Brokers". The association created that day established the framework for the Toronto Stock Exchange. Source: TMX Group History
• 1929 - October 24, 1929 became known as "Black Thursday", the start of the 1929 US stock market crash. Source: American Experience, A Selected Wall Street Chronology

October 25:

• 1923 - The Standard Statistics Company (the forerunner of Standard & Poors) created an index of 233 US companies, computed weekly. Source: H. M. Gartley,"Profits in the Stock Market ", p.54.
• 1861 - The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) was created when 24 men met at the Masonic Hall in Toronto and passed a resolution. Source: History Of The Toronto Stock Exchange

October 27:

• 1923 - The greatest U.S. bull market of the 20th century began after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day near 86. It lasted nearly six years and lifted stocks by 345% until the Dow hit 381. Then, beginning in 1929, the Great Crash pulled stocks down by 89%, erasing all these gains. Source:The Great Crash of 1929, Some key dates, Adrian Mastracci, Financial Post, October 24,2011.
• 1997 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its biggest one-day point drop in history Monday, prompting officials to take the unprecedented step of closing markets early. Source: U.S. stocks whipped by losses - Oct. 27, 1997

October 28:

• 1929 - On October 28, 1929, or "Black Monday" of the 1929 US stock market crash, stocks dropped 22.6%.Source: American Experience, A Selected Wall Street Chronology
• 1980 - The SEC issued Investment Company Act Release No. 11414 (October 28, 1980), adopting Rule 12b-1, permitting mutual funds to pay for the marketing expenses of selling new shares with the assets of existing shareholders. Source: Lori Walsh, The Costs and Benefits to Fund Shareholders of 12b-1 Plans:An Examination of Fund Flows, Expenses and Returns.

• 1994 - The S&P Small Cap 600 index was launched on this date. The S&P SmallCap 600 measures the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity market Source: S&P Small Cap 600 Index, factbook

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Our Canadian sister site, Financial Wisdom Forum, and its finiki, the Canadian financial wiki has a similar focus, many like-minded members, and may be of interest as well.

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If you see content in need of improvement, or a new page on a topic not yet covered, consider becoming an editor so that you can contribute to the site. If you find yourself writing a reply to a forum question that's been discussed a number of times before, consider creating a wiki page with the answer. Then you and others can reply to subsequent questions on that topic with a link and a quote of your text. That way, the Bogleheads Community both preserves our knowledge base and makes it more accessible, particularly to those using search engines.