If I were to pick stocks just for 2012, I would be speculating. I prefer stocks for the long term. My top picks for the coming year is not just for 2012, I would like to hold on to most of it even if the returns are less than spectacular. These companies have weathered disappointing [...]
This is an ad from T.Rowe Price promoting their retirement funds. But ads like these are all too common in the mutual fund industry. Open any business or investing magazine and you’ll find all sorts of metrics based around Lipper. Lipper ranks, Lipper leaders, Lipper indexes, Lipper Fund Awards… But then what do they mean [...]
On an average, a person will switch about 9 jobs during his working career. If he was lucky and smart, he probably enrolled in 401K plans when available. Now, if he didn’t bother consolidating his 401Ks, that’ll be 9 different accounts to remember at the time of retirement! When you decide to leave a company, [...]
Buying a home can be an exciting and a stressful time. If this is your first time buying a home, be prepared for a deluge of information, advice and opinions. And don’t let your real estate agent or your banker make the most important decision of them all – your mortgage. You know your financial [...]
Vanguard is known for its selection of low cost, no-load funds but Vanguard does have a few funds up its sleeve for those who are willing to pay more. These are Vanguard’s five most expensive funds. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund Investor Shares (VFSVX) This fund attempts to track the index of non-domestic, [...]
The Oracle had spoken. “I’m impressed with the profit generating abilities of the franchise”, Buffett said of Bank of America. “This is a vote of confidence by a savvy investor”, touted Bank of America’s chairman. Buffett followed up with an investment of $5 billion in the beleaguered bank. Nervous investors heard what they needed to [...]
1. Buffett’s favorite food is … A Cheeseburger! Not even one filled with caviar. Buffett loves popcorn and has a penchant for Coke! C’mon Warren, we have a reputation to keep! 2. Buffett has pledged most of his wealth to charity Buffett has pledged, not 25%, or 50%, or even 75%, but 99% of his [...]
The stock market had the worst plunge in two years, Standard & Poor’s downgraded US credit rating from AAA to AA+, the first time in seventy years, and Europe is battling a credit crisis of its own. According to Standard & Poor’s, your money is more safer with Liechtenstein than with the US! The impact [...]
Vanguard funds have some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry. Almost all of Vanguard’s ETFs have a corresponding mutual fund that either track an asset class or an index. But then, for an investor, deciding between a Vanguard ETF and mutual Fund is just not a trade-off between convenience and flexibility, although it [...]
Although I invest for the long term, I’ll admit, from time to time, I speculate on market movements for short term gains. I call this Thrill Money Investing. I only allocate a very small portion of my investing funds, funds that I can afford to lose without losing sleep, towards TMI. Any gains are plowed [...]