Mutual fund investors adore Morningstar. The Chicago firm publishes rankings for most of the funds that have lasted for three years or more. It awards anywhere from five stars (top rung) to one star (the cellar), based on past performance, minus sales loads and adjusted for risk.
Money pours into the four- and five-star funds. They’re [...]
Odds are, you sold stock-owning mutual funds last year, or at least cut back on putting new money in. As a result, your fund did a whole lot better than you did yourself.
That’s typical of all mutual funds. Their average investors don’t get full value from the funds they own. The reason is simple. You [...]
After the panic and crash of 2008, many investors decided that they had too much money in stocks. Maybe so, in some cases. But if you switch entirely to bonds or bank accounts, your retirement nest egg won’t grow, over the long term. In fact, its buying power will shrink, due to the pernicious effect [...]
