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John Bogle, “If You’re Not Worried Today, You’re Really Not Paying Much Attention”

Posted by Sean | Posted under Economics, Future, Investing, Podcasts, Urgent | September 22, 2008

Tess Vigland interviewed indexing guru John Bogle in Saturday’s Marketplace Money.

selected quotes:

What did you do with your money this week?

“Nothing.”

People are really wondering about the safety of their money wherever they put it, what do you say to them?

“First of all, if you’re not worried today, you are really not paying much attention. This is a financial crisis we’re having in the United States. We might as well not mince any words on that.”

Why do you think we are hearing so many comparisons to the Great Depression this week, and are those accurate?

The Great Depression was an economic event, preceded by a financial event. Yes, it’s worth thinking about in a sense.
(He goes on to say why.)

Don’t take my word for it… here is a direct link to the interview. (10 minutes)

Question:

John Bogle was born in 1929 and is comfortably retired, yet he is paying attention to the economy. Many people are nowhere near retired, yet tune out the bigger picture. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

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4 Comments so far
  1. Miranda September 23, 2008 6:34 am

    Thank you for sharing this snippet! It’s very interesting to get some insight from those who actually lived through the Great Depression. I’ve been talking to my grandma a lot lately. And getting my finances as ready as I can make them.

  2. Scott @ The Passive Dad September 26, 2008 1:10 am

    I think a lot of people are nervous and awaiting the governments decision on a bailout. Of course as an investor, this might be a fire sale right now or it could be time to sell. I wish I had grandparents around still so we could talk about the depression and gain some historical perspective. I guess I’ll have to go find a dull history book to read this weekend.

  3. Sean September 26, 2008 7:25 am

    Very cool to have a grandparent around from that time. I thought I got the straight scoop from my grandparents who told us stories from the 30’s. Looking back, I was too young to ask the right questions, so I did not learn what I could today. :-(

    Like Bogle, I’m putting steady money into long-term accounts. At the same time, I’m not buying the dips on margin like the gunslingers were at the beginning of this mess. If a lot of our oldest and wisest people say this could be a real deal, I think it carries weight versus a lot of the people in their 20’s & 30’s.

  4. Sean September 28, 2008 6:42 pm

    Passive Dad, I almost missed your last line… you can always try your luck with an audiobook. “The Worst Hard Time” looks interesting.