Knowing Enough

John C. Bogle and William Bernstein define “enough” and suggest another golden rule: never confuse your self-worth with your net worth.

Knowing Enough combines the penetrating insights into investing and life of John C. Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and the pioneer of index investing, and the priceless practical advice of William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Four Pillars of Investing and market historian. Their conversations were the centerpiece of Boglehead meetings until Bogle’s passing on January 19, 2019.

The book combines Bogle’s insights from his bestselling Enough and Bernstein’s practical how-to, If You Can. Their goal: to inspire you to lead a meaningful life that reaches well beyond your net worth to touch upon matters of self-worth, and to provide you with the means of doing so. You’ll also find:

• How to focus less on chasing financial success and more on living a meaningful life
• Insight into investing wisely and contributing to the common good
• Reflections on lessons learned from Bogle throughout his career

Written in the same conversational tone found between Bogle and Bernstein at Boglehead events, Knowing Enough challenges readers to rethink their relationship with money, business, and society.

Preface to Knowing Enough vii

Original Foreword to Enough by William Jefferson Clinton xvii

Original Prologue to Enough by Tom Peters xxi

John C. Bogle’s Author’s Note to Enough: A Crisis of Ethic Proportions xxvii

Original Introduction to Enough 1

Money

Chapter 1 Too Much Cost, Not Enough Value 29

Chapter 2 Too Much Speculation, Not Enough Investment 49

Chapter 3 Too Much Complexity, Not Enough Simplicity 71

Business

Chapter 4 Too Much Counting, Not Enough Trust 97

Chapter 5 Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough Professional Conduct 120

Chapter 6 Too Much Salesmanship, Not Enough Stewardship 141

Chapter 7 Too Much Management, Not Enough Leadership 159

Life

Chapter 8 Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment 183

Chapter 9 Too Many Twenty-First-Century Values, Not Enough Eighteenth-Century Values 193

Chapter 10 Too Much “Success,” Not Enough Character 211

Knowing Enough (if You Can)

What’s Enough For Me? For You? For America? 229

Bonus Content from If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly by William J. Bernstein 249

Bonus Content from Stay the Course: What Really Matters: A Memoir (Written at Dusk) by John C. Bogle 287

Afterword to Enough: A Personal Note about My Career 325

Author’s Acknowledgments 329

Notes 333

Index 345

John C. Bogle founded the Vanguard Group in 1974 and was a revered figure in the mutual fund industry until his passing in 2019. He also started the world’s first index mutual fund. A graduate of Blair Academy and Princeton University, he spent his entire career championing the individual investor. Bogle was a prolific writer for the investment profession authoring twelve books, many being bestsellers.

William J. Bernstein is a neurologist, co-founder of Efficient Frontier Advisors, an investment management firm, and has written several titles on finance and economic history. He has contributed to peer-reviewed finance literature and has written for national publications, including Money magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

A Clarion Call to Shape a More Perfect World, Over Your Lifetime

Knowing Enough: A Conversation about Money and Life—and Figuring Out What to Do with Yours delivers a compelling critique of the desolate state of the modern financial system and business as usual. For years, personal gain has been placed above the good for all, and the world is in a worse state because of it. It’s time to thrive by starting with ourselves—young and old (and young at heart!)—and taking thoughtful actions.

Bogle and Bernstein encourage you to choose. Do you accept the challenge of Bogle—to adopt a few eighteenth-century values over our twenty-first century ones, as he did? And do you accept the challenge of Bernstein to be just a little better with your money? Yes, it’s possible. He tells you how. But will you, when your financial life gets hard?

Knowing Enough will set you on a new course to lead your truest life—to challenge yourself and society, without losing faith in either. Tomorrow can be better than today, if you stand for something brighter and work to make it so. As Bogle and Bernstein remind us, never confuse your net worth with your self-worth. Instead, knowing enough will help you discover a life of noble purpose.