John Bogle Is Wrong About ETFs

Both have vastly outperformed the stock market since. The Energy Select SPDR is up about 45% since then, compared with just 20% or so for the S&P 500 index. (I should add that the Energy Select SPDR and other oil ETFs did even better than my do-it-yourself fund. So much for stock selection. My takeaway was, if you just want to bet on a sector, bet on the sector.)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Bogle's approach. It's better than most. If you don't really understand investing, or you don't have time to do all the homework, putting some money away in an index fund can be a great idea.

But if you are the kind of person who wants to manage your own investments, ETFs can be terrific. They often make better bets than buying individual stocks, with all the extra risk that entails.

What Bogle really seems to object to is people managing their own investments. He points out that many -- most, really -- do it poorly. That's true. But he then concludes no one should do it all. That doesn't follow.