The Wild History of Index Funds with Robin Wigglesworth #595

How to Money

If you’ve listened to the show for more than a couple episodes then you know that we’re big fans of index funds. Specifically, low-cost widely diversified index funds are what the vast majority of our portfolios consist of. But how did index funds come to be? And sure, we’re all for them but what does everyone else say? That’s why we’re pumped to take a deep dive into index funds today with Robin Wigglesworth who is editor of Alphaville over at the Financial Times. Robin is a financial journalist and he’s also the author of the book “Trillions: How a Band of Wall Street Renegades Invented the Index Fund and Changed Finance Forever.” Passive investing is something we take for granted- for us, index funds have always been an option but that wasn’t always the case. It was a heretical idea in the past, so we’re excited to get into the history of one of the most important modern-day investing innovations: who was responsible for their creation, why hedge funds still exist if index funds are the path to wealth, potential downsides to passive investing, & much more!

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During this episode we enjoyed a Kveik 1 Golden Sour Ale by Shades Brewing- thanks Andy for donating this one to the pod! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

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