Top 10 Best Index Funds Books of All Time

January 9, 2023

What are Index Funds?

Index funds are a type of mutual fund that aim to track the performance of a specific market index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. Index funds are usually passively managed, which means that they don’t actively seek out stocks to buy or sell. Instead, they simply seek to replicate the performance of the index they’re tracking.

Index funds have become increasingly popular in recent years, as investors have become more interested in low-cost, passive investing strategies. Index funds typically have lower expense ratios than actively managed mutual funds, and they often outperform their actively managed counterparts over the long run.

If you’re interested in learning more about index funds, there are a number of great books that can help you get started. Please check out the list below to help you with your search for knowledge.

Index Funds and ETFs: What they are and how to make them work for you

by David Schneider

Discover how to make Index Funds and ETFs work for you

without falling into the usual traps. This book will offer a different perspective that profits you!
This book will offer a different perspective – one that takes into account the history, structuring, and theorizing behind index funds and ETFs, and lay bare the inner working of its profitable industry. It will enable you to develop a neutral view, on index funds and ETFs so that you can cut right through the haze of marketing ploys and polemic criticism.

You will learn:

• What Index Funds are and how they are formulated
• How standard index funds differ to index ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)
• What advantages they have over other mutual fund products
• A brief history of the industrial complex behind them
• The business behind creating indices, such as S&P Dow Jones or MSCI indices
• Their theoretical and practical flaws and shortcomings
• The flaws in the logic underlying many index investment plans
• A detailed plan how to make the most out of these products
• BONUS: How to apply the 80/20 investing approach to index funds investing with several examples and case studies
• And much more!

The Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio: How a Simple Portfolio of Three Total Market Index Funds Outperforms Most Investors with Less Risk

by Taylor Larimore and John C. Bogle

Twenty benefits from the three-fund total market index portfolio.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to The Three-Fund Portfolio describes the most popular portfolio on the Bogleheads forum. This all-indexed portfolio contains over 15,000 worldwide securities, in just three easily-managed funds, that has outperformed the vast majority of both professional and amateur investors.

If you are a new investor, or an experienced investor who wants to simplify and improve your portfolio, The Bogleheads’ Guide to The Three-Fund Portfolio is a short, easy-to-read guide to show you how.

Index Investing For Dummies

by Russell Wild

A recommended, proven way to broaden portfolios and profits

Recommended by finance experts and used extensively by institutional investors, index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide unmanaged, diversified exposure to a variety of asset classes. Index Investing For Dummies shows active investors how to add index investments to their portfolios and make the most of their money, while protecting their assets. It features plain-English information on the different types of index funds and their advantage over other funds, getting started in index investing, using index funds for asset allocation, understanding returns and risk, diversifying among fund holdings, and applying winning strategies for maximum profit.

Index Fund Investing: Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Learn the Basics and Effective Methods of Index Fund

by Charlie Evans

If you are looking for a one-stop shop about index investing, you have found the right book. Developed in 1976 by John Bogle, index funds have become one of the more popular ways to invest in your future. While Bogle worried that investors wouldn’t dive into the Vanguard 500 index fund at the beginning, he quickly found out how hot index funds would become. Within 30 years, the market held nearly 300 different indexes.

But what exactly is this new phenomenon in the investing world? The answer to this question is in this book. Throughout the book, you will not only learn what an index fund is, but you will read about some of the hottest indexes on the market. You will receive tips about index investing from investing guru Warren Buffett and others. You will learn about the advantages to index investing, the disadvantages, and what mistakes you should watch out for as you begin your index investing journey.

This isn’t just any book on the market about index investing. This is a guide which can give you some of the best advice, information, and resources to help you get closer to hitting the “buy” button on your first index fund. Start investing for your future with this book today!

Investing Made Simple: Index Fund Investing and ETF Investing Explained in 100 Pages or Less

by Mike Piper

Find all of the following explained in plain-English with no technical jargon:
Asset Allocation: What does it mean, why is it so important, and how should you determine your own?
How to Pick Mutual Funds: Learn how to choose funds that are mathematically certain to outperform the majority of other mutual funds.
Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA vs. 401(k): What’s the difference, and how should you choose between them?
Financial Advisors: Learn what to look for as well as pitfalls to avoid.
Frequent Investor Mistakes: Learn the most common mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.
Calculate Your Retirement Needs: Learn how to calculate how much you’ll need saved in order to retire.

Who Is This Book For?
Anyone who has questions about investing, but who doesn’t want to trudge through a 300-page textbook.

What This Book Is Not:
This book is not a great work of literary art.
This book is not going to make you an absolute expert on the topic, and
This book is not going to provide you with a way to get rich overnight.

Common Sense on Mutual Funds: Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition

by John C. Bogle and David F. Swensen

John C. Bogle shares his extensive insights on investing in mutual funds

Since the first edition of Common Sense on Mutual Funds was published in 1999, much has changed, and no one is more aware of this than mutual fund pioneer John Bogle. Now, in this completely updated Second Edition, Bogle returns to take another critical look at the mutual fund industry and help investors navigate their way through the staggering array of investment alternatives that are available to them.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing in today’s turbulent market environment and offers timeless advice in building an investment portfolio. Along the way, Bogle shows you how simplicity and common sense invariably trump costly complexity, and how a low cost, broadly diversified portfolio is virtually assured of outperforming the vast majority of Wall Street professionals over the long-term.

Written by respected mutual fund industry legend John C. Bogle

Discusses the timeless fundamentals of investing that apply in any type of market
Reflects on the structural and regulatory changes in the mutual fund industry
Other titles by Bogle: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing and Enough.

THE 12% SOLUTION: Earn A 12% Average Annual Return On Your Money, Beating The S&P 500, Mad Money’s Jim Cramer, And 99% Of All Mutual Fund Managers… By Making 2-4 Trades Per Month

by David Alan Carter

How to make money in stocks?

First step: don’t trade stocks. In a radical departure from most investment books, a former day trader demonstrates how a simple asset allocation strategy that ‘adapts’ to changing market conditions has delivered a 12% average annual return over the past 10 years.

What does 12% mean?

If you’re familiar with investing basics, you’ll know that figure comes close to doubling the average return of the benchmark S&P 500. It also outperforms 99% of all mutual funds.

But what’s outperformance without protection? When the S&P 500 crashed in 2008 and lost 37% of its value, this plan actually returned +10.9%.

Beat the market with this unique ETF trading system.

Beat The Street and build long-term wealth in the stock market with this simple ETF rotation strategy that automates decision making, reduces risk and volatility in your portfolio, and lets you sleep soundly at night without worries of market bears or bursting bubbles.

A trading strategy that’s not pie-in-the-sky and not just a bunch of theory, but rather a systematic plan employing index fund ETFs and backed up with real numbers. A trading plan that’s understandable, repeatable, that works and works simply.

Common Sense Investing With Index Funds: How to Build Wealth, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Outperform Most Amateur and Professional Investors Without Really Trying!

by James Pattersenn Jr.

In Common Sense Investing With Index Funds, author James Pattersenn draws on his in-depth research of more than a decade to reveal to you a common sense investing approach for building wealth and achieving financial freedom without the complex strategies of day trading, swing trading, and other stock trading systems. Simplicity is the key to successful stock market investing.

In this investment guide, you will learn how to use index funds to build wealth and achieve financial freedom while outperforming most amateur and professional investors. This guide reveals easy-to-implement, investment strategies that will put you on a path to building wealth without the need to pick individual stocks or the need to beat the market. Within this investment guide, you will soon discover that index investing is intelligent investing

In this investment guide, you will learn:

How to construct a winning portfolio that’s low cost and broadly diversified
Why you should invest in index funds

How to find extra money to start your investment portfolio
The advantages and disadvantages of index funds
How to consistently outperform most other investors over the long-term

How to use proven strategies to obtain maximum profits
How to use the management expense ratio to pick top-performing funds
How to avoid common mistakes that result in investors losing money

About popular Vanguard index funds whose performances have trounced the performances of most investment pros
And much, much more exciting information!

Mutual Funds: Tips and Tricks to Learn the Realms of Mutual Funds and Upscale Your Income

by Mr Eric Williams

Mutual funds are generally considered the go-to solution for getting higher returns on your investments with little to no effort. You just find a fund house, give them your money and just wait for the compound effect of taking over your money and turn it into riches beyond your dreams! Now that does sound poetic, and in the real world, it IS possible, but only if you have all the lucky stars tucked away in your bedside drawer.In the factual world, with unpredictable economic conditions and fluctuating markets, you need a better process. It is YOUR money on the line, and YOU need to make decisions that put it to its best use. Yes, mutual fund companies are there to offer help and lend expertise, but they can only go so far as to guide you. And this is where this book comes in. You don’t want to be sitting next to a prospect fund manager and let his use of difficult terminologies and confusing terms and conditions lead you astray.The fact is, there are costs associated with mutual funds that your manager would not be too thrilled to discuss with you. With the power of knowledge at your arsenal, you can ask the right questions and make the best decisions for your investment.This book is your “everything” guide to learning about mutual funds. From basics to complex factors, expert tips, and risk calculations, it offers it all. The book outlines different types of mutual funds along with all the necessary information you need to acquire to make informed decisions.