(Written by Dorota Lewna, posted by Sebastien Aguilar)
SimplyFI is the UAE local chapter of the Bogleheads®. We follow the investing principles of the father of index investing, John C. Bogle, which enable the average retail investor to benefit from the growth of the stock and bond markets in a very effective and simple manner.
On the meetup hosted on the 11th of November 2017 Dorota Lewna presented the key investing principles that make up the Bogleheads philosophy. The aim was to help the group understanding and putting those rules into practice. Dorota started investing just over 3 years ago and used the same principles while setting up her own investment strategy. She has brought up several examples of how her portfolio and investment decisions relate to the Bogleheads philosophy.
This meetup focused on the basic foundation of the philosophy, essential for newbies or first-time investors who are just getting ready to set-up their portfolio. It is however beneficial even to long term, experienced investors to refresh the fundamentals from time to time, especially when markets are volatile and uncertain.
The 10 principles discussed during the meet-up were:
Choose a sound financial lifestyle & create a plan
Invest early and often
Never bear too much or too little risk
Diversify
Never try to time the market
Use index funds when possible
Keep costs low
Minimize taxes
Keep it simple
Stay the course
The meetup was attended by a journalist and a few weeks later an article was featured in The National.