Carving the investor's Mount Rushmore
The Reformed Broker is looking for a few good men, or women, to fill out the "Investing Mount Rushmore." He's compiling a list of those who've had the biggest impact based on their wisdom, style, message, writings or actions on the field
The sun shines on Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in this June 2012 file photo, taken outside Keystone, South Dakota. The memorial is a huge sculpture of the heads of former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor
There's a new profile of Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard and a revolutionary proponent of low-cost index fund investing, in the New York Times this weekend. Jack's in his 80's, he's been preaching the same simple (and helpful) message for decades - long-term returns are what matters and keeping costs low puts you ahead of almost everyone else.
The profile is very good, Jack's been through quite a lot health-wise and I'm not sure how much more of him we're going to get. But it also got me thinking about who, if anyone, has been more influential and important to investors in the last century. Jack's got to be up there but does everyone agree with me?
So here's what we'll do tonight: In the comments section below I want you to give me the four people who would be on the Investing Mount Rushmore in your opinion, dead or alive. We're looking for the four men or women who have had the biggest impact on all investors based on their wisdom, style, message, writings or actions on the field.
I'll weight them based on your responses and we'll see what we come up with as a group.
For the record, my Investing Mount Rushmore is:
1. Warren Buffett
2. Jack Bogle
3. Alfred Winslow Jones
4. Peter Lynch
Who am I missing? Who's on yours?