It's axiomatic among financial-service professionals that most do-it-yourself investors are their own worst enemies, always in the grip of some cognitive bias. But might the professionals be too pessimistic?
What if everything you were told about saving in your company retirement plan was bogus? What if the benefit of tax-deferred growth in your mutual fund based retirement plan was really a well-funded Wall Street marketing gimmick?
Exchange-traded funds are among the most popular recent innovations in the investing world -- with good reason: They offer a host of advantages over mutual funds. But they aren't a universally good solution: They make no sense at all within 529 college savings plans.
Now, there's a new vehicle for those looking to invest in a specific part of the market. It's called Motif Investing, and it aims to combine the best of funds with the best of individual stocks.
Everywhere you look, new exchange-traded funds are popping up, and many people now think they're a must-have for a successful portfolio. But even though investors have poured more than $1 trillion into ETFs, the question remains: Do you really need them?
Ask people what they think about Facebook, and you're likely to hear everything from "It's a terrific way to connect with friends and family," to "It's a colossal drain on time and productivity." Soon, you could start getting a third response: It's a big investment opportunity.
Thanks to a new law, the IRS is getting help from brokers to catch tax cheats. But the result could leave you paying more taxes than you need to on your investments. Here's what you need to know about the best cost basis method, and how it can help you avoid a bigger IRS bill.
Pop quiz: If someone wanted to charge you $600 for something you could get for $10 elsewhere, who would you buy it from? Sounds like a no-brainer. But when people buy mutual funds, they often end up paying the $600 price instead of the $10 one.
A few weeks ago, we asked DailyFinance readers for their best tips for putting your financial house in order. We've covered saving and spending wisely. Now, we move on to another key to long-term financial security: making your money work for you.
Nobody likes to pay taxes, but its worse when you're stuck paying them on income you never earned. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens to many of us every year around this time, thanks to a quirk in how mutual funds operate and are taxed.
Legg Mason's Bill Miller was the mutual fund industry's rock star through the 1990s and the first few years of this millennium. Now he's unplugging his amp and walking off the stage.
There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially when new tablets and old banks are in the way. Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week ahead once Monday rolls around.
A tsunami of money -- $2 trillion within the next decade -- is flowing into target date funds, a type of retirement account that's supposed to make investing for our post-work years simple. But the way those funds are run isn't always in our best interest. Laura Rowley explains.
Many mutual fund shareholders may not even realize how well or poorly their funds have been doing lately. After all, actively managed mutual funds are attractive to those who don't want to have to watch the market too closely. But you should definitely watch for these four simple warning signs.
The U.S. stock market's recent gyrations have many investors ready to look overseas for better returns. But it's a complicated world out there, which is why many less-experienced investors are still sitting on the global sidelines. Here's what you need to know make investing in emerging markets a little less scary.