# Recommendation receipt: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

Canonical book page: https://booksreddit.com/book/little-book-common-sense-investing/#recommendation-receipt
Updated: 2026-06-06T00:00:00.000Z

## Consensus

262 mentions from 202 unique commenters across 3 subreddits. r/Bogleheads accounts for 199 of those mentions — the book is practically a founding document there — and the community cites it so reflexively that one ↑152 thread mocked up a fake helpline where "contemplating market timing" routes callers straight to it.

## Read if

You've heard 'just buy index funds' a dozen times and want the source document. This is it. r/investing explicitly rates it above The Intelligent Investor for someone opening their first brokerage account — the ↑361 thread says so directly. If you already hold VTSAX and understand why expense ratios matter, the book confirms what you know and you can skip it. Read it first, though.

## Skip or borrow first if

The r/Bogleheads ↑227 commenter notes that Bogle's own 2007–2017 return forecast in this book missed significantly — actual returns came in much higher.

## Strongest published evidence

> I agree fully. The Intelligent Investor is not a book I'd recommend to new investors unless they are seriously interested. I see it get recommended to parents looking for financial books for their 16yo kids. IMO, although full of good content, the way this book is written I found it to be pretty de…

[r/investing source comment (score 361)](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/c2fupf/why_is_the_intelligent_investor_recommended_so/erjt5vo/)

## Dissent and caveat

The r/Bogleheads ↑227 commenter notes that Bogle's own 2007–2017 return forecast in this book missed significantly — actual returns came in much higher.

## Sample

- 262 tracked mentions
- 202 unique commenters
- 8 published source excerpts
- 2 tracked subreddits
- Average sentiment: 0.15 (not a star rating)

## Source comments

- [r/investing source comment (score 361)](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/c2fupf/why_is_the_intelligent_investor_recommended_so/erjt5vo/)
- [r/investing source comment (score 317)](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/nklmfn/the_single_greatest_edge_an_investor_can_have/gze4jlq/)
- [r/Bogleheads source comment (score 227)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/lb7vue/vanguards_10year_forecast_for_stocks_our_expected/glsxh5v/)
- [r/investing source comment (score 225)](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/128t38t/to_stick_with_the_index_fund_or_go_for_individual/jekcmas/)

## Method and limitations

Methodology: https://booksreddit.com/methodology/

- Mention counts describe the tracked Reddit sample, not every Reddit comment or every reader.
- Average sentiment summarizes sampled discussion and is not a star rating.
- Editorial consensus, reader fit, and caveats are derived from the existing sourced book synthesis.