Index Funds

Mark Hebner makes the case for passive index investing with an unusual combination: endorsements from Jack Bogle, Harry Markowitz, and Burton Malkiel, plus fifty-four original oil paintings and eighty-nine color charts stretching across nearly a century of market data. The twelve-step recovery metaphor works surprisingly well — treating active stock-picking as an addiction to overcome gives the argument both humor and emotional accessibility. Foreword Reviews called it 'smart, precise, and funny.' Now in its tenth edition (updated through 2024), the data is current. The honest caveat is that Hebner runs Index Fund Advisors, a firm that sells index advisory services, so there is a commercial interest behind the argument — that is worth knowing even though the underlying case for passive investing is broadly supported by independent research. The twelve-step framing may also feel gimmicky to some readers. Overall, one of the most distinctive and well-endorsed books in personal finance.