The polls are clear and dismaying. Just 13% of Americans are “very confident” in their retirement planning, while 38% are “somewhat confident,” the Employee Benefit Research Institute found in a 2013 poll. That means … Read more →

You likely already know that mutual funds cost more to own than index funds — a lot more. A typical active mutual funds charges fees of between 1.5% and 2% … Read more →

Retirement investors often hear that they should build a portfolio, rather than picking stocks based on tips and gut feelings. Easy to say and, for a long time, it was hard … Read more →

A hundred years ago, almost nobody invested outside their own country. Even 50 years ago, investing in Europe was a mission for the brave and, possibly, only those with local know-how. John Templeton, the … Read more →

The investing advice you hear tends to come in two flavors: total beginner or nearly retired. If you are young, say in your 20s, you should be heavy stocks and light on bonds, some … Read more →

Time is money, according to the business dictum. When it comes to retirement, it’s literally true. Most savers believe that their retirement will grow more if they save more, which … Read more →

One of the most confusing aspects of retirement saving is the proliferation of tax-deferred retirement accounts. There are specialized health and education accounts, individual retirement accounts of various flavors, then … Read more →

U.S. bond investing has a reputation for being arcane, and understandably so. Where things get confusing for many investors is bond risk. While a U.S. bond is extremely likely to be repaid with … Read more →

The ETF industry has exploded in recent years, that’s for sure. In the early 1990s there were only a small handful and almost nobody used them. By one recent count, … Read more →

One of the fundamental building blocks of an investment portfolio, without a doubt, is stocks, particularly the stocks of U.S. corporations. Research has show that stocks offer a long-term hedge against inflation that’s hard to replicate … Read more →