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Target-Date Funds: Same Dates Can Earn Wildly Different Returns

The appeal of target-date funds is obvious. Decide when you'll need your money back, and the fund invests accordingly: aggressively at first, more conservatively as the "target" approaches. But it's not so simple: Different funds can give you dramatically different performance.

Donor-Advised Funds: A Timely, Tax-Wise Way to Give to Charity

Time is running out to make tax-deductible charitable contributions for 2012. If you'd like to donate at least $5,000 before the end of the year, you may want to consider doing it through a donor-advised fund, which provides special tax bonuses, flexibility and anonymity.

Main Street Investors Force Big Changes in Wall Street's Fees

Historically, the asset management industry has been merely an easy way for money managers to get rich at your expense. Even today, 401(k) fees alone rob us of $60 billion a year. But investors have caught on and are demanding lower fees -- and lately, they've started getting them.

Cramer Explains: The 3 Troubles With Target-Date Funds

Target-date funds are probably better than defaulting to a money market fund or throwing darts to pick your 401(k) options. But like any heavily hyped investment, these things are flawed. Extremely flawed. Let me count the ways:

Can You Trust Retirement Funds?

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?

29 Hot Mutual Funds to Replace Your Losers

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.

The Best Brokers For Mobile Investors

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.

Hedge Your Risk With Mixed-Asset Mutual Funds

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.

Could Fidelity Save Your 401(k) Retirement Plan?

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.

Four Rules for Tax-Efficient Investing

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.

Will Bond ETFs Have Another Banner Year?

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?

Where to Place Your Currency Bets 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.