Whether you are new to investing or a veteran, this should be a "must read." Indeed, the take-aways are very simple: If you want to succeed in investing, invest in index funds, and hold them long-term. Bogle eschews specialty investing (funds or equities other than broad market index funds), and he eschews speculation even more.
So, in theory, one could take a pass on reading the book and walk away with this advice (which, actually, has been around forever)for free. But that's not the purpose of the book. What the book does is explain, in incredibly persuasive detail, WHY Bogle believes what he does, and why his approach makes sense. Unless you understand the realities of why his approach is preferable, then it is unlikely you will seriously consider his advice.
Indeed, the book does have some shortfalls. Probably the most egregious shortfall is one that is common in virtually every "how to" or "self-improvement" book: failure to kick the readers in the butt and place some of the blame for their problems on themselves. Have you ever read a psychology "self-improvement" book that told the readers they were screwed up and that the problems they had were their own fault? Of course not. You don't want to get your readers angry, even though this is what they really need to hear. In "Clash of Cultures," Bogle NEVER blames individual investors for their problems (i.e., stock market losses). He blames everyone else possible: Congress, the judiciary, public accountants, the press, security analysts, corporate directors, fund managers, and so on. If you operate under the assumption that your problems are everyone else's fault, then you end up in "victim mode," and you wait around for the other people to decide to become honest and nice, so that your life can change. It ain't gonna happen. If you want to solve your problems, you have to take action yourself, and that involves placing the blame squarely where it belongs - on yourself. As the old saying goes, "When you point the finger of blame at someone else, there are three other fingers pointed right back at you." In other words, one shortcoming of this book is Bogle's reticence to make it clear that investors are responsible for themselves. More specifically, they can't expect to succeed unless and until they educate themselves. Handing money over to other people to manage for you, and then sitting back "fat, dumb and lazy" hoping the other people will do the right thing with your money and have your best interests at heart, is a prescription for disaster.
Another shortcoming of the book is that, given Bogle's 61 years in the mutual fund industry, he has a fondness for it over other investment vehicles, such as ETFs. He doesn't bash ETFs. He simply points out the fact that people who own mutual funds tend to hold them for long periods of time, while people who own the same basket of stocks in ETFs tend to buy and sell on a regular basis. This isn't a slam against ETFs. It is a slam against the people who own the ETFs. In other words, there is no requirement that, if you purchase an ETF, you have to sell it quickly. Bogle does admit (but glosses over this fact very quickly in only a couple of phrases in a couple of sentences in the book as quickly as he can) that ETFs can be less expensive than mutual funds in terms of fees. As such, logic seems to dictate that, if you want to purchase a broad market fund and are willing to hold it for a long time, then an ETF makes much more sense than a mutual fund, simply because the ETF will have lower fees in the long run. Again, though, Bogle doesn't come right out and emphasize this.
Other than these two shortcomings (letting individual investors off the hook and not more actively publicizing the lower costs of ETFs), this book is monumental. If you currently invest with a belief that you are smart enough to "beat the market" long-term and/or someone who prefers speculation (in and out buying and selling) to investment (buy and hold), reading this book might actually change your mind - and make you more money in the long run.
