Editor's note: Making emotional investment decisions can wreck your overall performance.

But that's not the only thing holding individual investors back.

And as TradeSmith founder Dr. Richard Smith explains in today's Masters Series, thanks to one hardworking market innovator, another common pitfall that kept many investors from responsibly building a nest egg is no longer an issue...

This Market Legend Changed the Way We'll Invest Forever

By Dr. Richard Smith, CEO and founder, TradeSmith

On January 16, Jack Bogle died at the age of 89.

The Vanguard founder changed the game for small investors – especially those who now save tens of billions of dollars each year in fees through his company's family of funds. If there was a Mount Rushmore of investing, Bogle would surely have a spot.

After Bogle's death, some of the world's greatest investors heaped praise upon him...

Investing guru Warren Buffett said, "If a statue is ever erected to honor the person who has done the most for American investors, the hands-down choice should be Jack Bogle."

According to Bill Miller, another value investing legend we follow, "Jack created more wealth for more people than anyone in the history of investing, and probably in its future as well."

Cliff Asness, founder of investment-management firm AQR Capital Management, agrees: "Nobody has ever done more for investors, and asked less for himself, than Jack Bogle."

From the beginning, Bogle learned that success doesn't come easy...

He was born in New Jersey on May 8, 1929 – five months before the stock market crashed, kicking off the Great Depression. His family struggled... Bogle's father became an alcoholic, and his parents divorced. His mother worked in a gift shop to keep the family fed, instilling a strong work ethic and a low-cost mentality that stuck with Bogle his entire life.

In his early 30s, Bogle suffered his first heart attack. Within a decade or so, a doctor said he should retire to the seaside. Instead, Bogle worked twice as hard. And over the course of his life, a congenital heart defect caused him to suffer a half-dozen more heart attacks.

He famously kept a defibrillator next to his desk... And he would even take it to the gym. If you played squash with him, he would show you how to use it. And then he would beat you.

In 1996, in his late 60s, Bogle received a heart transplant. After the surgery, he joked that having the heart of a young man would allow him to work even harder. And it did... Bogle worked nonstop for another 23 years after the transplant, writing more than a dozen books.

In his final years, Bogle sometimes gave interviews from a hospital bed instead of rescheduling them. And when he passed away last month, he was working on another book.

As you can tell, nothing stood in Bogle's way. That's why he became a champion for "the little guy" – always looking out for small investors and speaking the truth to Wall Street.

Bogle turned the financial industry on its head when he launched Vanguard in the 1970s...

Before that, Wall Street greed reigned even worse than today. For example, small investors had no way to reinvest their dividends efficiently, meaning they had to pay high fees for a "total return." Mutual funds charged as much as 4% just to put dividends back to work. In other words, Wall Street's minions ripped off millions of customers just because they could.

But Bogle changed all that... And even today, because Vanguard is owned by its investors through the mutual-fund structure, there is no third-party incentive to hike fees.

Bogle ensured that the benefits of Vanguard's index business would flow directly back to the company's investors, rather than into someone else's pocket. It was a huge change from how most funds operated back then. But it allowed Vanguard to grow into what it has become.

It makes sense that the Wall Street old guard hated Bogle's revolution... After all, Wall Street thrived on higher fees. But Bogle wanted to reduce them – or cut them altogether.

Salesmen didn't want to sell Vanguard's low-cost index funds... Investors were just supposed to sit on them for decades instead of actively trading, so commissions were low.

As a result, the Vanguard funds flopped massively at the beginning...

The investment banks that raised money for the offering hoped to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead, they brought in around $11 million. It was like opening a Broadway play with only three or four people in the seats – an embarrassing disaster.

It became known as "Bogle's folly." But Bogle wasn't deterred... And ultimately, after continuing to beat the same drum over and over, he forced Wall Street to change its stripes.

Before Bogle's low-cost indexing revolution came along, Wall Street was ravenously greedy in its willingness to charge high fees. While fee-gouging is still a problem today, it is held in check much more because low-cost index funds have become a multitrillion-dollar industry.

Even managers of active funds are being forced to lower their fees to better compete with index-fund alternatives. Active fund managers like Fidelity now offer some options with zero fees so they can stay competitive. Small investors benefit the most from these changes.

In his lifetime, Bogle forced Wall Street to give a better deal to small investors. He made it possible for the average person to directly participate in the economic growth of America in a low-cost way. And he made it possible – even if you don't have much spare time or energy – to still save for retirement responsibly. Because of that, Bogle is a hero.

At TradeSmith, our mission goes a step beyond Bogle's...

We hope to empower individual investors. We believe investors willing to do a little bit of work managing their emotions and portfolios can beat the market by a substantial amount.

Today, investors can use countless low-cost vehicles – like exchange-traded funds – to beat the market. And with our tools, you can achieve significantly better-than-average returns.

So rest in peace, Mr. Bogle. We applaud you for being a champion for the small investor, proving an alternative exists to the way Wall Street used to operate before your time.

And to any small investor reading this who isn't yet a part of the TradeStops family... If you're ready to take your retirement into your own hands, we hope you'll join us.

Regards,

Dr. Richard Smith

Editor's note: On Wednesday, February 13, at 8 p.m. Eastern time, our friends at TradeSmith are hosting their first-ever "Bull vs. Bear Summit." During the free online event, some of the most famous "bulls" and "bears" will join Richard to address investors' biggest questions today. They'll help you prepare for what's ahead, no matter which way the market goes. Sign up right here.