I have long maintained that cable television is a rip-off.  To begin with, Comcast is the only choice in my area  (that nothing resembling competition exists in this market is the first tip-off that you’re about to take it in the wallet) but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon this JD’s Cheap Alternatives to Cable Television [...]

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Here are some simple ways to increase your investment returns without much work.

Switch to Index Funds - Studies show that 70% of actively managed funds fail to beat their benchmark over the long term.  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
Lower your expenses - Numerous Morningstar studies show that mutual fund expense ratios are the [...]

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The term “out-sourcing” is an unpopular term, especially during election years and I’m sure we’ll hear all about its various evils in months leading up to November.  The fact is, out-sourcing has a bad rap.  I must first make clear make clear the differences between out-souring and off-shoring.  Out-sourcing is merely when a company chooses to [...]

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While I’m not the biggest fan of Suze Orman, I AM a big fan of free stuff.  Today until 8pm EST today, you can download Suze Orman’s newest book Women & Money:  Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny for free from Oprah’s site.  In my opinion, Suze’s advice is generally solid albeit simplistic.  I [...]

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Buy low, sell high.  Sounds easy, right?  Apparently not.  The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sector experienced net fund outflows of $7.1 billion in 2007, a sector that had previously been as hot as any in recent history.  Meanwhile, Vanguard’s REIT Index ETF (VNQ) dropped 16.4% for the year on recession fears due to last summer’s credit [...]

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At first glance, the future looks dim for General Moters (NYSE: GM).   But on second glance, a $38 Billion loss isn’t all that bad.  The fact that GM was down less than 2% on the loss is the first clue something is amok.  Think about it:  how could a company with a  $15.055 Billion market [...]

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I’ve received a few emails asking about my personal IRA allocation.  As my balance grows larger, I will probably add another asset class or two such as foreign small/mid value and maybe some commodities exposure.  In any event, I’ve kept things fairly simple.  Here goes…

10% Vanguard 500 Index fund (VFINX)
10% Vanguard Value Index fund (VIVAX)
10% [...]

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It had to happen eventually: actively managed ETFs are in the works.  It’s no secret that ETFs have been the hottest investment product of the new millenium and it’s easy to see why.  Up until now, ETFs have all been index funds.  The best ETFs track broad market indices such as the S&P 500, MSCI [...]

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At its root, portfolio theory is about guarding against uncertainty.  If you knew ahead of time which stocks or asset classes would perform best in any given time period, it would be foolish to diversify.  Unfortunately, crystal balls that accurate are really, really expensive.  Since most of us aren’t privy to such information, we have [...]

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For decades, the stock market was the exclusive stomping ground of the nation’s business elite.  Transaction costs at a full-service brokerage were enough to bankroll a family of five for a month, or so it seemed.
Even worse, financial information on publicly listed companies was spotty and difficult to obtain, at best.  Investors like Benjamin Graham [...]

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