Over two years ago Fidelity Investments began offering several index or passive, no-fee mutual funds. The two main funds track indices of the entire domestic stock market and all of the international stock markets. No-fee funds have the potential to increase your investment returns. Management and administration fees otherwise reduce the fund’s return. At the […]
Most investors would like to forget March 2020. Times of uncertainty and market stress, however, have reinforced three investing fundamentals. Remembering these fundamentals will help keep your investment goals on track. 1. Vast uncertainty causes dramatic and quick stock price movements. For the 12 months prior to March 2020, the US stock market, as measured […]
Fidelity Investments recently launched four no-fee mutual funds to gain a competitive advantage against rivals Vanguard and Schwab. This move along with lowering existing index fund fees and eliminating minimum investment amounts go a long way to making investing easier and more affordable for investors. This blog explains how you can take advantage of these […]
The Department of Labor recently abandoned its fiduciary duty rule for retirement advisers. The Department was responding to a recent Court of Appeals decision overturning the rule completely. So what does this mean for you and your investments if you are working with (or plan to work with) an advisor? Make sure you know the […]
Price volatility – larger ups and downs – returned to the US stock market during the first quarter of 2018. These unpredictable and unexpected sizable movements can make investors wary. But they give some not-so-gentle reminders to do a few things: tune out the daily stock market noise understand the market doesn’t just move on […]
Part I of this blog explained how the disclosure loophole in the fiduciary duty standard can swallow the duty entirely. Below is one way to protect yourself if you are working with a fiduciary or plan to work with a fiduciary advisor. What matters most to investors is their portfolio’s performance. Most investors don’t care […]
The Department of Labor has recently delayed its fiduciary duty rule for retirement advisers. I wrote favorably about the proposed rule because it puts investors’ interests first and not the profit interest of the advisor. A financial advisor without a conflict of interest seemed right to me because people are on their own to secure […]
The active versus passive investing debate continues to rage in the popular business press. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a week-long series exploring the origins and value of passive investing. This debate misses two key points. Asset allocation, not how your funds are managed, overwhelmingly determines your portfolio’s performance. Human behavior affects a portfolio’s […]
Tony Robbins’ describes ideal investor behaviors in “Money Master the Game” that can maximize your investment performance. The book’s first half centers on the tasks and new habits you should follow to achieve financial freedom. New habits like setting up automatic savings and eliminating unnecessary expenses. The second half of the book relays the investment […]
Competition on mutual fund fees has broken out! Fidelity Investments lowered its index fund fees below those of low-cost leader Vanguard. As a former antitrust attorney, I LOVE the fact that these companies are competing on something that actually matters to investors. And by naming names in its advertisements, Fidelity’s move is a direct attack […]
