Alan Baker had no strategy for his first 40 years of investing.  He began buying mutual funds when he graduated from Air Force pilot training in 1968. He bought his first ones from a sergeant who sold funds on the side and convinced him that front-end load funds were the best performers.  Over the years he bought funds for all the wrong reasons:  funds that gave brokers good commissions and funds that were top performers in recent quarters.  He retired from IBM at age 62, began learning about investing, and discovered the Bogleheads philosophy.  He is an avid volunteer with community organizations in California and Vermont, and co-founded the South Bay Bogleheads with Jim Cosgrove in 2015.