The active management problem
Roughly 85% of actively managed large-cap funds underperform their benchmark index over a 15-year window, after fees. That number has been remarkably stable for two decades, across market conditions that were supposedly favorable to stock-pickers.
Fees compound too
A 1% annual fee doesn't sound like much until you compound it over 30 years — it can eat a quarter of your final balance. Index funds routinely charge a tenth of that.
What "boring" actually buys you
An index fund won't beat the market. It also won't try to, which means no manager risk, no style drift, and no surprise concentration in whatever sector happened to be hot last year.
