Mutual Fund Investing - Registered Investment Advisor

There Is No Investment “Cure” for a Bad Feeling

By Scott Burns Q. My wife and I are 81 and 84. We have $400,000 (all our savings) in two $200,000 CDs that are averaging 3.8 percent interest. One CD matures in May 2010. The other matures in May 2011. We have no debts. And we can live on our income from...

Posted Nov 18 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

‘Vig’ and the Mutual Fund Casino

By Scott Burns Q. In a recent column you mentioned the importance of expense ratios when evaluating mutual funds. Although I look at the ratios, I also evaluate the funds’ performance. If the performance is higher, I may select a fund with the higher...

Posted Oct 14 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

A Yardstick for Mutual Fund Expenses

By Scott Burns Whose money is it, anyway? In case you have forgotten, all that money in mutual funds belongs to you and me. It may be diminished, but what remains is still our money. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we get the most reliable benefit...

Posted Sep 25 2009, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Fat Fund

Mutual Funds Make Sense For Most People, But Individual Stocks Don’t

By Scott Burns Q: I notice that you seem to tout mutual funds regularly. But I have never seen you mention private ownership of individual stocks. I wonder if there is a reason. Our retirement is extremely comfortable because my father built a retirement...

Posted Dec 31 2008, 03:00 PM by admin with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

Three Ways to Have Vanguard at Fidelity

By Scott Burns Q. Does Fidelity have a fund that compares to the Vanguard Balanced Index (ticker: VBINX)? I like the performance and the low expense fees the Vanguard fund has. I also like the ratio of 60 percent stocks, 40 percent bonds. I currently...

Posted Dec 24 2008, 03:00 PM by admin with | with no comments

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

Why the Target Funds are Good Marketing but Lousy Investing

by Scott Burns Q. Can you talk about the pros and cons of creating your "five-fold" portfolio vs. investing in a targeted retirement mutual fund? Could you also touch on the practical aspects of trying to create and rebalance a "five-fold"...

Posted Oct 31 2007, 03:30 PM by admin with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print)

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

How to Improve the Odds of Selecting a Superior Mutual Fund

With the number of mutual funds approaching the population of Cleveland, you and I face a dilemma. How do we choose? Is it possible to select a fund that has a good chance of earning a higher return than at least 50 percent of its competitive peers? Is...

Posted Aug 03 2007, 04:30 PM by scottb with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing

The Best of Two Worlds: Vanguard Inside USAA

Q: I will soon have about $74,000 from the sale of my 90-year-old mother’s house. The house is in an irrevocable trust, and I am the trustee. My mother recently moved to an assisted-living facility and does not need any additional income from the house...

Posted May 16 2007, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing, Q&A (from print), Resources

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)

First, Do No Harm

Which would you rather be: a government employee or a surgeon? Yes, this is a trick question. It came to mind as I read a recent Investment News article announcing a new mutual fund. Here's the story. Given the choice, most people would choose to be surgeons...

Posted Nov 04 2006, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing

Hidden Gems vs. Obvious Winners

Most of us have a secret wish: We'd like to find the perfect little mutual fund. We can close our eyes and imagine this fund. It will have good performance, year after year. It will never suffer from market downturns. It will be interesting. But it will...

Posted Sep 26 2006, 04:00 PM by scottb with | with no comments

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing

Prowling the Mutual Fund Database

Sometimes it's good to prowl around the data and see what turns up. While there is no guarantee that past performance in a mutual fund will be repeated in the future, a long and positive history of superior performance is a pretty good indication that...

Posted Aug 15 2006, 03:55 PM by scottb with | with no comments

Filed under: Mutual Fund Investing

Cash: It's Not Trash Anymore

Call it the silver lining effect. While the talking heads wring their hands over rising interest rates and the danger they present to life in the known universe, I have to confess a tingling sense of comfort. I like the idea of earning something on my...

Posted Jul 16 2006, 10:49 AM by scottb with | with no comments

Filed under: Financial Planning, Mutual Fund Investing

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Registered Investment Advisor

There Is No Investment “Cure” for a Bad Feeling

‘Vig’ and the Mutual Fund Casino

A Yardstick for Mutual Fund Expenses

Mutual Funds Make Sense For Most People, But Individual Stocks Don’t

Three Ways to Have Vanguard at Fidelity

Why the Target Funds are Good Marketing but Lousy Investing

Spoiling a Good Thing

How to Improve the Odds of Selecting a Superior Mutual Fund

The Best of Two Worlds: Vanguard Inside USAA

Income Limits from Your Nest Egg

No-load Mutual Funds vs. Exchange-traded Funds

First, Do No Harm

Hidden Gems vs. Obvious Winners

Prowling the Mutual Fund Database

Cash: It's Not Trash Anymore

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