There’s an old saying in investing that your portfolio is like a bar of soap. The more you handle it, the smaller it gets. Between bid-ask spreads, commissions, and taxes on realized capital gains,…
U.S. investors tend to have a strong home country bias. On average, portfolios are heavily tilted toward domestic stocks, often well above the U.S.’s roughly 60% share of global market capitalization. Some of that…
The debasement trade have produced quite a few winners. One of the most obvious is the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEMKT: GLD). In mid-March 2026, the fund crossed a massive $180 billion in…
It’s hard to argue with the results of the S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) study. For those unfamiliar, it compares active fund managers against their benchmark indices, and more often than not, the…
If you look at plain vanilla dividend ETFs that simply hold stocks and avoid complex derivatives strategies, the yield ceiling tends to be fairly modest. Even if you screen aggressively for high-yield sectors such…
There are many things the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) does very well. For starters, it is extremely affordable with a 0.06% expense ratio. Its distributions are also relatively tax efficient because the…
If you have spent any time on social media, you have probably seen someone pitching the dream of effortless real estate wealth. The pitch never changes: buy a few properties, collect rent every month,…
The traditional 60/40 portfolio still has plenty of defenders. Many advisors continue to recommend it as a simple, balanced approach for long-term investors. But 2022 exposed a major weakness in that strategy. If you…
Municipal bonds are often marketed as the safe, tax efficient corner of fixed income. In many cases, that reputation is deserved. Most municipal bonds are investment grade and backed by relatively stable sources of…
Retail investors have a few ways to reduce risk in a stock portfolio. If you want to hedge an equity position, you could add bonds, buy put options, or simply hold part of your…
Recession fears are rising, AI is reshaping the labor market, and retirees face a danger most investors overlook: being forced to sell at the worst possible moment. Five low-cost ETFs, each under 0.1% expense…
I am going to be very blunt. Many retirees say they want income from their portfolio but refuse to sell shares to generate it. The idea is that spending dividends or distributions feels acceptable,…
There is a lot to like about the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA:JEPI). For a strategy that combines active stock selection with derivatives, it is priced reasonably at a 0.35% expense ratio. The…
If you are going to pay for active management, you should make sure you are actually getting active management. That sounds obvious, but even in 2026 many funds still engage in a practice known…
