I've made several posts of this nature but I decided to summarize the meat of what I want to say in this one.

In short...is it really that easy to invest the Bogleheads way? I have read Jack Bogle's book and some other books on finance (Rich Dad
Poor Dad and some I can't remember offhand) and it seemed clear-cut and simple enough. Buy index funds, hold. Profit. It's almost
impossible to beat the market, so don't.

I recall when I first started learning about finance years ago thinking that every investor needs to know alpha, beta, Sharpe ratio,
candlestick theory etc...and that it was an arcane science that only a select few suit-clad males knew, and that's why we always saw
the same faces. But apparently it isn't?

There's so much information online, and the news is awash with this stock falling and this rising and...how about I just buy and hold?
If more knowledge and effort isn't going to yield greater results, why bother?

I wish I had known this before engaging an FA (so I wouldn't have to pay commission) I don't mind doing some homework - I know more
than a layman at this point. But if I was just as simple as buying a few key index funds, I could have earned like 50K more in a few years.

So is investing really as easy as buying and holding some recommended index funds? (I have a three-fund portfolio in mind)
The projected returns are 8-9% PA, which is better than what my FA gives me, and does not seem unreasonable given Vanguard's performance.