Vanguard

Target-date retirement funds are supposed to be safe and conservative, but the market meltdown revealed that some funds were less risk-averse than advertised. Have they cleaned up their act -- and can you trust them with your retirement?

If your end-of-year portfolio rebalancing has you looking for some better mutual funds to reallocate assets into, Standard and Poor's Equity Research wants to help: It has released its first-ever list of Mutual Fund Excellence Award winners -- consistent performers across a range of categories.

Mutual fund powerhouse Vanguard reduced the cost of investing for 2 million of its clients on Wednesday by lowering the minimum investment requirements for its low-cost Admiral Shares.

What are the best brokerages for mobile investors? The industry advisory firm Corporate Insight surveyed the mobile trading features of 21 brokerages, looking at a variety of platforms and loads of other features. See what firms come out on top.

Stocks are underperforming so far in 2010, and Treasury bond yields are low, too. So how can you get good returns without excessive volatility? Standard & Poor's Equity Research suggests mixed-asset mutual funds, which capture the strengths of both stocks and bonds.

New Yorkers who participate in the state's 529 college savings direct plan will see their fees cut by almost 50%. The direct plan's total annual asset-based fee declined to 0.25% from 0.49% starting Aug. 29, according to the comptroller's office. The reduction means plan participants could save...

Fidelity Investments says 401(k) loan and hardship withdrawals are rising. But instead of offering costly, actively managed funds, Fidelity could take the lead in reforming a system that primarily benefits mutual fund families and plan advisers.

Taxes can be a big issue for investors: No one wants to make money on an investment only to have to give a major portion of it to Uncle Sam. So instead of asking politicians for a tax cut this year, investors should give one to themselves by adopting some tax-efficient strategies.

There's one word to describe the exchange-traded bond fund business and market in 2009 -- booming. Indeed, last year more than $39 billion flowed into long-only bond ETFs, while more than $26 billion flowed out of long only U.S. stock ETFs. Can fixed-income investors expect more of the same in 2010?

You can deal with future dollar declines by gaining exposure to foreign currencies -- either by investing in the currencies themselves, or by buying stocks in companies whose earnings aren't denominated in dollars.