Competing asset managers tend to offer very similar ETF lineups, especially when it comes to sector funds. Whether you’re looking at Vanguard, iShares, or State Street, you’ll usually find a full set of ETFs…
Did you know that Vanguard has one of the oldest mutual funds still in existence? It’s called the Vanguard Wellington Fund Investor Shares (VWELX), and it debuted all the way back in 1929. Since…
Private credit assets aren’t traded on an open market, so valuations are often based on internal models rather than real-time price discovery. That leads to what looks like smooth, stable returns. But that stability…
If your portfolio only holds U.S. stocks, you are excluding around 40% of the global equity market by market capitalization. That means giving up exposure not only to developed international markets like Japan, the…
I have a soft spot for both the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG) and the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEMKT: VYM). A big part of that comes down to fees. After some…
Have you ever heard the phrase “picking up pennies in front of a steamroller”? It’s a classic way to describe investment strategies that generate small, steady gains most of the time, but carry the…
Not all bonds are built for safety. If you’re willing to take on more credit risk, you can earn a much higher yield. That becomes especially true once you move below the investment-grade tier.…
There are some trade-offs with more selective dividend ETFs. Think about strategies that only include stocks above a certain yield, require a long history of dividend increases, or screen for low payout ratios. These…
There is an ongoing study from Hendrik Bessembinder at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University that I’ve followed closely. It’s titled 100 Years in the U.S. Stock Market, and…
Gold’s performance over the last few years is a good reminder that stocks and bonds alone are not enough for diversification, especially after 2022. Owning equities across all 11 sectors and across different geographic…
A quick reminder for anyone who’s already forgotten about 2022: that year, the classic 60/40 balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds didn’t provide much protection. In fact, it lost nearly as much as a…
There's been a lot of talk about how ETFs are slowly cannibalizing the mutual fund industry. In some cases, it's happening through outright conversions. In others, it's happening through ETF share classes becoming more…
A lot of investors chasing double-digit yields end up in covered call ETFs. And while those can work, the trade-off is pretty clear. You’re capping your upside in exchange for income, and in strong…
President Donald Trump’s recent address to the nation did little to calm investor concerns around the ongoing conflict with Iran, which has now entered its fifth week. Markets don’t like uncertainty, and right now…
Shocker, I’m a big fan of the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NASDAQ: VYM), and not just because Vanguard recently lowered its expense ratio again to just 0.04% a year. I like the benchmark.…
The Bogleheads 3-fund portfolio calls for an allocation to aggregate bond funds. They’re broadly diversified, low cost, and do a decent job of reducing overall portfolio volatility. But if your goal is yield, it’s…
Technically speaking, retirees should be just as comfortable selling shares to fund withdrawals as they are receiving dividends. From a total return perspective, there’s no real difference. For example, selling $10,000 worth of shares…
What’s your plan for retirement? If you haven’t given it much thought yet, it’s worth starting with a simple question: where is your income going to come from? The old model was straightforward. Work…
If I were retired today and had to put all my money into a single fund, I’d probably pick the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund Investor Shares (VWINX). This is one of Vanguard’s longest-running actively…
A lot of income investors get tripped up on something basic: the difference between a dividend and a distribution. People use the terms interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. A dividend is…
