Index & ETF Investing - Registered Investment Advisor

Searching for the Ultimate Income Portfolio

By Scott Burns Finding investment income is difficult. But it isn’t impossible. The search will demand that many investors leave their comfort zone well behind. If you are a CD investor, for instance, you’ll be hard pressed to find yields...

Posted Aug 20 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Taxes & Other Disasters, Government, Economy

What Investors Wish Most

By Scott Burns If investors could be granted a single wish, it would be this: Let me know when stocks are rising, so I can be in — And let me know when stocks are falling, so I can be out. Surely, there must be some way to know when the market will...

Posted Aug 06 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing

Recovering from Bad Investments

By Scott Burns Q. Many columns ago, you wrote that the 50s decade of life was the "make it or break it" decade. Well, I think I really messed up. I'm 57, invested in oil and gas mineral rights and subsequently lost $240,000. My broker also...

Posted Jul 14 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Index & ETF Investing, Retirement

The “Safe Withdrawal Rate” May Be Changing

By Scott Burns Q. I am 58 and would like clarification about taking out 4 percent per year from one's savings and investments in order to meet living expenses. At what age does one consider that 4 percent would be the appropriate amount– 62...

Posted Jul 07 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

Exchange Traded Funds Make Good Retirement Portfolios

By Scott Burns Q. Are exchange traded funds (ETFs) suitable for a retiree's portfolio? If the retiree makes regular withdrawals to live on, and attempts to keep his portfolio balanced, he would need to make regular withdrawals from an ETF, thus incurring...

Posted May 26 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

Exchange Traded Fund Pitfalls Easily Avoided

By Scott Burns Q. Recently you have been suggesting using exchange traded funds rather than low cost mutual funds to achieve portfolio diversification. You have explained many of the benefits of ETF's. But, what, if any, are the potential disadvantages...

Posted May 12 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

Fundamental Investing Passes First Reality Test

By Scott Burns What some call “ Main Street indexing ” appears to be gaining traction. Real results from actual funds have surpassed the returns of traditional market-capitalization weighted funds. If you are a late arriver to this discussion...

Posted Apr 30 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing

Building Index Fund Portfolios on Different Platforms

By Scott Burns The basic idea for Couch Potato investing is simple. Actually doing it, alas, isn’t as simple as we’d like it to be. There are even wrinkles to creating a portfolio at Vanguard, the mother lode of low-cost index funds. If you...

Posted Apr 02 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: Couch Potato Investing, Index & ETF Investing

A Better Balanced Fund

By Scott Burns Craig Israelsen has an interesting idea: Let’s leave 1950 behind. The associate professor at Brigham Young University in Utah thinks it is time to include the world outside the United States, among other things, in our investments...

Posted Mar 26 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Retirement

A Visit with John Bogle

By Scott Burns At 80, he says he doesn’t get enough done. And while ever more money is moved around the world by legions of finance Ph.D.s, he offers this assessment of investing. “ It’s not rocket science.” Meet John Bogle. He’s...

Posted Feb 19 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Income Investing, Index & ETF Investing

It Helps to Understand Brokerage Economics

By Scott Burns Q. How does one go about setting up an IRA consisting of the Couch Potato funds or another low-expense portfolio? Most financial advisers are at least as interested in their own revenue as they are their clients’. They are not particularly...

Posted Jan 27 2010, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

Retiring Soon? Index Funds Still Best Choice

By Scott Burns Q: I took your advice and read Daniel Solin's "The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read." Then I took his advice and contacted Fidelity Investments about buying index funds for my 403(b) because my employer/school district...

Posted Aug 12 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print), Retirement

You Don’t Need Perfection--- Just the Right Direction

By Scott Burns Q. I'm 33 years old and this is my first time doing a 401(k). I received my benefits package information but it might as well be in a foreign language. I see different kinds of stock funds to choose from. Each one has different companies...

Posted Jul 29 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print), Retirement

To Do Well Over 50 Years, Reduce Costs

By Scott Burns Q. I am a 26-year-old man, looking into starting a Roth IRA. I have been investing in my government 457 plan for the past three years but am unhappy that I will be taxed on my gains at retirement. I am one of the few people left in the...

Posted May 13 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

Filed under: Financial Planning, Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Portfolio

By Scott Burns Q. I just read Suze Orman. She said that you should “put your age” in bonds. I am 53 and have only 10 percent in bond index funds. Everything else is in stock index funds in my IRAs. ; ;Fifty percent seems extremely conservative ;at my...

Posted Mar 11 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Income Investing, Index & ETF Investing, Q&A (from print)

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Registered Investment Advisor

Searching for the Ultimate Income Portfolio

What Investors Wish Most

Recovering from Bad Investments

The “Safe Withdrawal Rate” May Be Changing

Exchange Traded Funds Make Good Retirement Portfolios

Exchange Traded Fund Pitfalls Easily Avoided

Fundamental Investing Passes First Reality Test

Building Index Fund Portfolios on Different Platforms

A Better Balanced Fund

A Visit with John Bogle

It Helps to Understand Brokerage Economics

Retiring Soon? Index Funds Still Best Choice

You Don’t Need Perfection--- Just the Right Direction

To Do Well Over 50 Years, Reduce Costs

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Portfolio

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