The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning (51 page)

The original Morningstar Vanguard Diehards forum began in March 1998. Taylor Larimore posted in Conversation #1, the first of his more than 24,000 forum contributions. Mel Lindauer was another pioneer whose investment and business experience soon made him a forum leader, and he has made more than 15,000 posts. The Morningstar Vanguard Diehards forum flourished. Thousands of investors read and participated in the open forum discussions. It was a very successful forum for many years.

As the number of forum followers grew, Alex Frakt (username “low-wall”) created a web page called Conversation Tracker in 2001. It quickly became an indispensable gateway for the regular posters and readers of the Morningstar Vanguard Diehards forum. A few days after announcing his conversation tracker, Alex heard from another forum participant, Larry Auton. Larry was an Internet pioneer and fan of Jack Bogle. He had been in charge of one of the original dozen Internet routers at Bell Labs and had written the software that made moderated Usenet newsgroups possible. Together, Alex and Larry turned the one-page project into a full-featured web site and registered the names diehards.org and bogleheads. org. The two partners decided to manage and fund the project themselves and paid all costs out of pocket. They accepted no advertising to avoid any conflict of interest or commercial bias on the forum. It was their vision to contribute whatever they could to bring Jack Bogle’s crusade to the masses and help small investors get a fair shake.

By 2007, the Morningstar Diehards forum was overflowing with ideas and commentary. This led to the grassroots effort to spread the message of Jack Bogle through the creation of a stand-alone web site. The new stand-alone site was created by “Phoenix,” another of Jack’s followers. The new forum was quickly integrated into Alex and Larry’s web site at Bogleheads.org. The broadly expanded capabilities of the new site, made possible by new software, allowed the forum to become a smashing success. The site continues to be financed and administered by Alex and Larry, and it is free to all investors who comply with the forum’s policies and etiquette.

At the time of this writing, the Bogleheads.org investment forum had more than 15,000 registered members who have made more than 500,000 posts. There are also a large number of guests online at any one time. Guests can read the forum but only registered members can post. More than 9,000 different individuals visit our web site daily. In any one month, there are more than 100,000 unique visitors making more than 300,000 visits and reading a total of more than 1 million pages. By all accounts, this new forum is a resounding success, and it’s now considered to be one of the premier investing web sites on the Internet.

Bogleheads forum librarian Barry Barnitz and a small group of forum members quickly realized the valuable contribution that a Bogleheads Wiki could make to both the Boglehead community and to the greater investing community at large. A Wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who has editing access to contribute or modify content by using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative web sites and to power community web sites.

Barry undertook this important project and recruited a few other loyal Bogleheads to help create the bones of the Wiki. The bones are slowly being fleshed out by an ever-growing number of Wiki contributors, and this great resource becomes more valuable with each passing day. As envisioned, the Wiki will become a valuable reference source and serve as a repository of informative and helpful investing information. You’ll find the Bogleheads Wiki link on the
www.bogleheads.org
web site.

The first book in the series,
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
, was a for-profit project by three founding members of the online forum. The success of the first book, and continuing support from publisher John Wiley & Sons, led to this not-for-profit book. It is a community effort under the leadership of the founding members of the forum, Taylor Larimore and Mel Lindauer, along with Richard Ferri and “Queen” Laura Dogu. This book capitalizes on the breadth and depth of knowledge of the many posters on the forum by having some of the members contribute individual chapters.

John C. Bogle, the founder of The Vanguard Group, in his book
Common Sense on Mutual Funds
, sums up what it means to be a Boglehead in 23 little words: “Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance.” These words permeate the advice given throughout the chapters of this book and the first book. They also come to life daily in the many online postings through the community of investors who follow these beliefs at
www.Bogleheads.org
.

Online relationships are great for gathering information, but there’s nothing like meeting face-to-face to build camaraderie. There are now 38 local chapters throughout the United States and Europe. Local chapter members meet periodically to discuss investing topics of interest with other members from their area. Locations and contact information for the various chapters can be found at this web site, provided and maintained by Boglehead Ralph Averson:
www.lostsprings.com/diehards/chapters/
.

Bogleheads reunions are the result of a joint effort between Taylor Larimore and Mel Lindauer to make the online forum relationships even more personal. Originally called Vanguard Diehards reunions, these meetings offer forum participants a chance to meet the people behind the various online usernames.

Attendees also get to meet and mingle with Jack Bogle, popular Boglehead authors, and other Bogleheads they chat with or read about on the forum on a regular basis. Favorite Boglehead authors who have attended previous Bogleheads reunions include Bill Bernstein (
The Intelligent Asset Allocator
;
The Four Pillars of Investing
;
The Birth of Plenty
; and
A Splendid Exchange
), Richard Ferri (
All About Asset Allocation
;
All About Index Funds
;
Protecting Your Wealth in Good Times and Bad
; and
The ETF Book
), Bill Schultheis (
The New Coffeehouse Investor
), Larry Swedroe
(The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need
;
What Wall Street Doesn’t Want You to Know
;
The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You’ll Ever Need
;
The Successful Investor Today
;
Rational Investing in Irrational Times
;
Wise Investing Made Simple
; and
The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You’ll Ever Need
), and
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
authors (Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf ).

On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, Taylor Larimore made a post on the forum titled “A Time to Give Thanks” and listed a number of things he had to be thankful for. In the long list of things he was thankful for, he stated: “
I thank John Bogle and Vanguard, first for their unsurpassed educational tools, second for providing an investment service that is unsurpassed
.” Many Diehards chimed in on that thread, listing things they were thankful for in some very lovely and moving posts. A few days later, Taylor received a beautiful handwritten letter from Jack Bogle, who had read the forum thread. In his letter, Jack stated that he was “inspired” by Taylor’s post and all the responses from the other Bogleheads. In his letter, Jack listed a number of things he was thankful for, and concluded his letter with this memorable question: “
Would there be any interest in a Bogleheads conference for a day, at a convenient (non-resort, I think) location?
” The idea of a “conference” or “reunion” was actually initiated by Jack Bogle himself.

Taylor received Jack’s permission to post his letter on the forum, and the response to the idea of getting together with Jack Bogle was overwhelmingly positive. Now it was up to Taylor and Mel to figure out how, when, and where they could pull off this event. That opportunity presented itself early in 2000, when Taylor and Mel learned that Jack Bogle was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the
Miami Herald
’s Making Money Seminar in March. Florida seemed like the ideal place to them since Taylor lives in Miami and Mel spent the winters there.

Jack Bogle accepted Taylor’s invitation to join the Bogleheads during his stay in Miami. With very little notice, 22 Bogleheads from around the country arrived in Miami to join Jack Bogle for dinner in Taylor’s lovely condo overlooking the night lights of Miami and beautiful Biscayne Bay. (Taylor describes his home as “the house that Jack built,” a reference to his benefiting as a long-time investor at Vanguard.)

After a lovely Florida dinner, the Bogleheads sat in Taylor’s living room and shared dessert while Jack took questions and chatted with all those who attended, in what can only be described as a magical evening. Then, at the end of the evening, before returning to his hotel, Jack used Taylor’s computer to make a post on the forum, telling those who couldn’t attend what a special evening he had enjoyed with his Bogleheads in Miami. The
Miami Herald
covered the event and published a lovely story (with pictures) about our dinner with Jack in their Sunday business section. The following morning, the Bogleheads had reserved seating for Jack’s keynote speech, which contained his usual sage advice (own the market, index, keep costs low, etc.).

Thus was born what has turned out to be an almost annual series of Bogleheads reunions.

As a result of all the excitement created by the large number of posts on the forum about the Diehards I reunion with Jack Bogle, Mel received an e-mail from Dave Kirtland, a Boglehead who lived in New York. He offered to host Diehards II at his inherited family farm in Pennsylvania. The farm was near Philadelphia and near Vanguard’s headquarters, both desirable features. On September 21, 2000, Dave and Mel posted a joint Diehards reunion invitation.

Sadly, on November 15, 2000, Dave Kirtland suffered a massive heart attack. Dave’s widow, Anne, and her two sons, Ed and Steve, wanted to continue to host the Diehards II reunion in honor of Dave. The outpouring of support from the forum members was tremendous, and Diehards II went on as planned. The event included a guided tour of Vanguard (Jack Bogle was our guide), a Q&A session with Jack, a banquet followed by a speech by Jason Zweig (a senior writer at
Money
magazine at that time), and a barbecue picnic at the Kirtland family farm. In addition to Jack Bogle, Jason Zweig, and the Kirtland family, nearly 50 Bogleheads from throughout the United States and Canada attended.

After the Q&A with Jack Bogle, the late Rev. Bob Stowe presented Jack with a World War II British bugle, mounted on a plaque, with the inscription “
To Jack Bogle—The Conscience of the Industry—This token of our esteem, a 1942 British regimental bugle, symbolizes your clarion call to build an industry that protects and serves the average investor.—Your Bogleheads—Jun 9, 2001
.” And at the picnic, Mel presented the Kirtland family with a plaque on behalf of the Bogleheads that included the inscription “
You took Dave’s dream and made it a reality
.”

The events of this enjoyable, yet very moving event were documented in the September 2001 issue of
Money
magazine, where Jason Zweig did a beautiful five-page story about the reunion titled “Here Come the Bogleheads.” The
Philadelphia Inquirer
also did an article on our reunion, as did
Morningstar
.

Carl Sibilski, the moderator of the Morningstar Vanguard Diehards forum at the time, approached Taylor and Mel with an invitation from
Morningstar
, offering to host the Diehards III reunion during their annual
Morningstar
conference. Since Jack Bogle was to be a speaker at the conference and
Morningstar
would handle all the arrangements (hotel, meeting rooms, reserved group seating for Jack’s speech, etc.), all the necessary parts were in place, so Diehards III was scheduled.

Jack Bogle asked Mel to invite authors Bill Bernstein and Larry Swedroe to join him at the reunion for a discussion and question-and-answer session with the Bogleheads. As the moderator of the discussion, Mel noticed that Don Phillips, managing director of
Morningstar
, had slipped into the room, so Mel invited him to join the panel. Jack Bogle later commented that that was the smartest panel he had ever been a part of.

In addition to the conference activities, the reunion included a private tour of
Morningstar
’s offices, a wonderful luncheon on the roof deck overlooking downtown Chicago, and a meeting with some of
Morningstar
’s top executives, including Chairman and CEO Joe Mansueto.

Press coverage included interviews with CNN/Money and local TV stations.

The Bogleheads moved west when Jack Bogle addressed the CFA Conference in Denver. The CFA folks agreed to handle the arrangements for a Diehards IV reunion as a supplement to their conference. Denver Boglehead Sherri Hender (forum name “Daisy Dog”) served as the local reunion coordinator. Attendance continued to grow, as 71 Bogleheads from around the United States and Canada came to Denver. The agenda continued to evolve with the addition of a social reception, where Bogleheads could meet each other and chat. Other events included Jack’s address to the CFA Conference, a Q&A with a panel of Jack Bogle, Bill Bernstein, and Rick Ferri, book signings, and an evening banquet with Jack Bogle.

The
Wall Street Journal
sent reporter Karen Damato and a photographer to cover our three-day event, and her story, along with several photos, appeared on the front page of the Money & Investing section of the May 14, 2004, issue of the
Wall Street Journal
. In addition, Denver’s
Rocky Mountain News
provided local coverage of our event.