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• Financial Planning
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• Q&A (from print)
• Retirement

• Spoiling a Good Thing

  On Wall Street, if a little of something is good, then a lot of it must be magnificent. How else to explain the proliferation of exchange-traded funds (ETFs)? From the launch of the first in 1993 (to duplicate the performance of the S&P 500 index... Posted Aug 17 2007, 03:30 PM by scottb with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing

• Income Limits from Your Nest Egg

  Q. It is recommended that retirees withdraw no more than 4 percent a year from their retirement nest egg. Is this in addition to any income that is generated from their funds? Bonds and CDs pay more than 4 percent. And some higher-dividend stocks pay... Posted Jan 03 2007, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• No-load Mutual Funds vs. Exchange-traded Funds

  Q: I read your column about ETFs. What I don't understand is what advantage ETFs have over regular no-load mutual funds. All of my investments are in no-load mutual funds, mostly index funds at Vanguard and Fidelity. Why should I pay a commission, even... Posted Nov 22 2006, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

• It Costs Money To Market Mutual Funds

  Q. In a recent column you discussed "screening" techniques when selecting mutual funds. One restriction you mentioned in your analysis was the exclusion of loaded funds. In the past my financial planner has almost exclusively recommended no-load funds... Posted Dec 04 2004, 10:02 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Financial Planning, Home Ownership & Mortgages, Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

• Learning How Your Fund Is Doing

  Q. What can you tell me about Lehman Brothers First Trust Opportunity Fund (ticker: LBC)? My wife and I bought $60,000 worth in March of this year. This amount represents 25 percent of our investments. We purchased this stock at the suggestion of our... Posted Sep 23 2004, 02:25 PM by scottb with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

• What About Commissions on Exchange Traded Funds?

  Q. Aren't you overlooking something when you advocate buying ETF's as opposed to regular mutual funds? When buying an ETF, you have to pay a commission on both the purchase and the sale. This can be expensive for an individual that wants to buy a small... Posted Aug 19 2004, 10:22 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

• A Re-examination of Fund Data

  In my Sunday, May 12 column I made an error using a database program that calculates long-term returns. Instead of calculating mutual fund returns without taxes, I ran the calculation with the default tax rates. This reduced the returns on the ten funds... Posted Jul 21 2002, 02:08 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing

• The ETF Revolution

  Is it twilight for the mutual fund industry--- or just late in the Happy Hour? That question came to mind as I contemplated the most recent developments in a product that could cap the expansion of the mutual fund industry as we know it and accelerate... Posted Jul 16 2000, 10:46 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Mutual Fund Investing