Index Funds Explained: What You Own and What It Costs
You are not trying to beat the market. You are trying to own it cheaply and not interrupt it.
Category: Investing
Index funds, costs, allocation and the habits that matter more than fund selection.
ETFs vs Mutual Funds: The Differences That Matter
Same underlying holdings, different plumbing. The plumbing matters mainly in taxable accounts.
Expense Ratios: The Fee That Decides More Than Fund Selection
You cannot control returns. You can control costs, and over decades they are worth more than most investment decisions.
Target-Date Funds: One Fund That Rebalances Itself
For most people a single low-cost target-date fund beats a portfolio they built and stopped maintaining.
The Three-Fund Portfolio
Three funds cover almost everything a long-term investor needs. The rest is preference.
How to Start Investing: A Six-Step Order of Operations
The account comes before the fund, and the emergency fund comes before both.
Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Investing a Lump Sum
Automatic monthly investing is dollar-cost averaging done for the right reason. Sitting on a windfall is usually done for the wrong one.
Eight Investing Mistakes That Cost Real Money
Most damage comes from behaviour, not from picking the wrong fund.