Much attention has been paid lately to Goldman Sachs’ decision to “help” average folks (a.k.a. the 99% crowd) access the kind of high-stakes hedge funds once available only to the superrich (a.k.a. the 1%). And while all sorts of pundits and investor advocates have noted the folly of this and similar ideas, there’s a case to be made that …
mutual funds
Forbes Billionaires List: If You Can’t Beat the .0001%, Join ‘Em
Today, Forbes Magazine will release its 262-page “World’s Billionaires” issue. The yearly release is a red-letter day for America’s business press and is accompanied by extensive coverage of how these global tycoons made …
Index Funds Win Again — This Time By a Landslide
Index mutual funds trounced actively managed mutual funds last year by the widest margin in 15 years. Why are you sticking with an active manager?
Why the Smart Money was So Dumb in 2011
If your 401(k) was down in 2011, don’t hang your head. You have plenty of company. Many of Wall Street‘s most successful investors were losers in 2011 as well.
According to Hedgefund Intelligence Database, 60% of all hedge funds …
Why Investors Leave $200 Million A Year Sitting on the Table (And How to Get Your Share)
Investors collectively spend more than $200 million a year in excess fees on S&P 500 index funds alone, a study finds. They get nothing for that money, which could be compounding in their accounts instead.
What We Can Learn from a Legendary Fund Manager’s Retirement
In the end, Bill Miller was doing what he had always done. But it stopped working, and now the legendary mutual fund manager is retiring. His inglorious departure from Legg Mason Value Trust offers a telling lesson in the perils …
Your Stock Fund Lost Money? Well, They All Did Last Quarter
We’ve all seen the sobering numbers on things like unemployment (9.1%), GDP (1.3%) and the national debt ($15 trillion). Now comes another reality check: Last quarter, not a single U.S. diversified stock fund made money. Not one.
Warning to Income-Starved Investors: High Yield Means High Risk
Sometimes it pays to state the obvious: higher yield means higher risk. Here are some alternatives for income-starved retirees.
Are You Overpaying for your 401(k)?
Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research Center has a study out this month about the cost of 401(k) plans, and they have found another flaw in the nation’s defacto retirement savings system: It is overpriced. So not only do 401(k) plans not meet the needs of the average American, they aren’t cost effective either. I wrote about …
Saving Money Isn’t Just About Buying Stuff on Sale
If you’re going to scale back in the hopes of saving money, it sure makes sense to do it smartly, ensuring that all your sacrifice and effort pays off.
The American mutual fund, a triumph of financial innovation
Phil Coggan of The Economist tells of a survey by Lipper (I can’t find it online) on mutual fund fees:
The average total expense ratios of US mutual funds are 1.32%, for German funds 1.57% and for UK funds 1.66%. Weight the ratios by asset size (to reflect where the bulk of investor money is held) and the difference is even more stark;
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