Mutual Funds

In my years of crafting investment strategies, I have found that the most effective plans are often the simplest. Few embody this principle better than the 70/30 portfolio—a allocation of 70% to equity mutual funds and 30% to fixed-income mutual funds. It is a classic, time-tested model that balances the growth potential of stocks with […]

In my practice, I find that the five-year return is the most seductive and dangerous metric for investors. It feels substantial—long enough to seem meaningful but short enough to still be heavily influenced by recent performance. This makes it the perfect tool for marketing departments and the perfect trap for performance-chasing investors. A strong five-year

In my years of analyzing retirement plans, I have found that the single most overlooked factor determining an investor’s ultimate wealth is not their asset allocation or their fund picks, but a single, often-hidden number: the expense ratio. Within a 401(k), this number takes on an outsized importance. It represents a direct, annual deduction from

In my practice, I constantly warn clients against the seductive allure of short-term performance data. Among the most dangerous of these metrics is the “average 4-year return.” A four-year window is long enough to feel significant but is, in reality, almost perfectly designed to mislead. It captures a arbitrary slice of a market cycle, offering

In my career, I have learned that the most powerful force in investing is not clever stock picking or market timing. It is time itself. A 30-year investment horizon is the ultimate crucible; it is long enough to render irrelevant the short-term noise of recessions, bull markets, and geopolitical crises. It reveals the relentless, compounding

In my career analyzing financial markets, I have learned that most investment wisdom is revealed not in quarters or years, but in decades. A 25-year time horizon is particularly powerful. It is long enough to smooth out the volatility of business cycles, technological disruptions, and geopolitical shocks. It encompasses multiple bull and bear markets, allowing

In my years of counseling investors, few questions are as common—and as dangerously misleading—as “What’s the average return on mutual funds?” The question seems simple, but the answer is profoundly complex. An “average” is a statistical phantom that masks a wide dispersion of outcomes, from spectacular successes to catastrophic failures. It ignores cost, risk, and

In the world of investing, most mutual funds operate in the sunlight, buying the stocks and bonds of thriving, well-known companies. But there is an entire ecosystem that operates in the shadows of the market, specializing in the securities of companies that are struggling, bankrupt, or in deep distress. This is the domain of firms

In my practice, I often encounter investors who have been presented with a variable annuity as a solution for retirement planning. The conversation typically focuses on the tax-deferral and insurance benefits. But the true engine of a variable annuity’s long-term growth—the element that will ultimately determine its success or failure—is the selection of underlying investments,

In my career, I have found that investors often focus intently on a mutual fund’s potential for gains while giving little thought to how they will eventually exit their investment. This is a critical oversight. The ability to convert your shares back into cash—a process known as redemption—is a fundamental feature of the mutual fund