Category Mutual Funds
A whopping 52.6 percent tax rate on ordinary income
From an article about ranking the tax efficiency of certain income-oriented investments for six-figure earners: Begin by choosing marginal tax rates for both ordinary income and long-term capital gains. Litman Gregory assumed a whopping 52.6 percent rate on ordinary income, which includes 8 percent for state income tax. The federal portion consists of this year’s […]
Buy Facebook? You may already have!
When Facebook (FB) went public, several folks immediately asked if they should buy it. My response was, uniformly, “no”. It was not that I thought FaceBook was overvalued (I did), not that I thought the price was going to drop soon (I did – IPOs frequently go down in the short term, and a spectacularly […]
Ten most common mistakes
Totally worth reading. I’d have said exactly these same things and I tell them to clients all the time. So good I’m thinking of mailing this link in my next On The Spot email. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/07/investors-10-most-common-mistakes/ A really great “top 10” list by Barry Ritholtz: Investors’ 10 most common mistakes I seriously recommend reading the whole […]
WSJ/Burton Malkiel: Where to Put Your Money in 2012
WSJ/Burton Malkiek: Where to Put Your Money in 2012
Another excellent op-ed piece by Burton Malkiel, author of the classic “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”.
Malkiel makes the following points (summarized – but you should really read the article):
- Bonds, especially US and Europe, are not positioned to do very well in the future
- Stocks, especially the US and Emerging Markets are
- Emerging Markets, in general but especially Brazil and China and even India look good (natural resources, demographics, etc)
- Single-family houses in the US are less expensive and with ultra-low mortgage rates (see “Bonds” above — a mortgage is the opposite side of buying a bond – it’s borrowing rather than lending!) look good. (“Housing affordability has never been better.” Though, of course, that’s contingent on good credit and probably a job.)
- Costs matter – this was the final paragraph and it’s always worth repeating: “Control the thing you can control — minimize investment costs. That is especially important in a low-return environment. Make low-cost index mutual funds or ETFs the core of your portfolio and ensure that any actively-managed investment funds you purchase are low-expense as well.”
Rick Ferri says “Mutual Fund investors should Occupy Boston”
http://www.rickferri.com/blog/investments/fund-investors-should-lead-%e2%80%9coccupy-boston%e2%80%9d/ Following all the Occupy This and That out there (WallSt, mainly, but there are satellite protests), Rick makes some great points. They’re the same ones he makes on a regular basis, but it’s still nice to see them tied down so cleanly. Summary – the mutual fund industry has been raking in huge amounts […]
Study: 401(k) participants who had “help” outperformed others
http://www.startribune.com/business/130561873.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue 401(k) Study: Workers who sought help improved annual performance by an average of 3 percent DES MOINES, Iowa – Sometimes it pays to get help. A new study of 401(k) accounts provides further evidence that workers who get help pocket higher returns than those handling their own investment choices. The study by human resources […]
Felix Salmon responds to Swensen’s anti-mutual-fund piece
Felix Salmon, a widely published financial journalist, responds to Swensen’s article about how much of the mutual fund industry is ripping off investors. In particular, he takes issue with Swensen’s suggestion that the SEC should be somehow pushing folks to buy index funds. http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/08/19/why-the-sec-shouldnt-push-index-funds/ Salmon grudgingly seems to agree that *within an asset class* it […]
Mutual Funds a ripoff?
Maybe that’s pushing it a little bit, but the fact is that the vast majority of mutual funds, mostly actively managed, add more in costs than they do in value. A net loss to the investor compared to what he should be paying. David Swenson, chief investment officer at Yale University (he manages their huge […]
Meyers Wealth Management 