In boxing, like the markets, it is often the punch you don’t see coming that puts you on your back. The most skilled knockout artists aren’t the hardest punchers, rather they are the ones that lure their opponents into complacency then hit them with a punch they do not see coming. Index investors have been lulled to sleep and could awaken flat on their backs to a very different reality from what was originally expected.

Although there are no guarantees in the stock market, Buffett's conviction that index funds are a smart investment is solid advice that almost anyone can follow. Here's why.