POST PUBLISHED INMarch, 2010
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  • How important are mutual fund expenses really?

    March 26th, 201012:15 PM ET
    By Mark Biller
    You've probably seen articles explaining that mutual fund investors pay higher costs than they realize due to funds incurring "hidden" costs that aren't reflected in the published "expense ratio." Such articles (here's a recent example from Morningstar) usually disparage funds that do a lot of trading because they tend to incur higher levels of t...

  • What do your finances look like?

    March 24th, 201002:38 PM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    If you had to visualize what your finances looked like, what would come to mind? Water down the drain? (It's slippery, moves fast, and it's almost impossible to hold in place.) Maybe one of those barrels of peanuts at a restaurant? (A few shelled peanuts in a pile, a handful "reserves" still in the shell, but mostly lot of remnants of wha...

  • Revisiting "The Coming Economic Earthquake"

    March 22nd, 201009:30 AM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    Echoing concerns raised by Larry Burkett in his 1994 book, The Coming Economic Earthquake, SMI Assistant Editor Joseph Slife recently wrote a "déjà vu all over again"  post about runaway government spending and debt. (Back in the day, Joseph did some of the research for the Earthquake book and produced a radio special based on it.) To ...

  • It's a guy thing: Study shows men more likely to sell at market lows

    March 18th, 201010:21 AM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    Okay, guys. Show some backbone. Or some patience. Or stop being so overconfident. A study from Vanguard (released late in 2009 but picked up last week in the New York Times) shows that during the market downturn of '08 and early '09, men were much more likely than women to sell their shares at stock market lows, rather than patiently waiting for a...

  • Re-thinking higher education

    March 17th, 201002:23 PM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    "Is a college education still worth the investment?" That was the question we asked in an SMI cover story five months ago. Here's a quick summary: In recent decades, going off to college has become the de facto expectation for students graduating from high school. A college degree is often seen as the key to launching a successful career.Bu...

  • Spiritual money myths

    March 15th, 201004:28 PM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    From SMI's audio archive, executive editor Mark Biller explains how Scripture can correct common mistaken ideas about money. Mark was interviewed by host Bob Crittenden on Faith Meeting House, a program produced by Alabama's Faith Radio.   Click the arrow below to listen (30 min.) - or use this link to download (right click/save as). _...

  • A newbie's first look at real couponing

    March 11th, 201011:29 AM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    Of all the different ways we've learned to save money, couponing has been low on the list. But of all the different irrational things that scare me, couponing has been high on the list... higher than the fear of Big Foot, stuck crossed-eyes, and breaking someone's back by stepping on a crack - combined. Why? Because of all the work you hear it...

  • Will gold keep rising against major currencies?

    March 10th, 201001:57 PM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    The answer, of course, is "no one knows." But the prospects for gold seem good - or, put another way, the prospects for currencies appear to be not-so good. Reporter Tom Sullivan offers details in Barron's. The dollar is not as good as gold. Neither are 22 other currencies. A recent study by GoldMoney.com, which enables online cross-border trans...

  • Making progress by dollar-cost-averaging

    March 08th, 201008:59 AM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    Lots of number crunching has been going on since early January, as fund companies and related organizations compile data for the decade just ended. (SMI is no different: you can find our recently released 2000-2009 performance data here.) Fidelity, the top provider of employer-based retirement plans, has completed an analysis of the 10-year ex...

  • Advantages of using a credit card?

    March 05th, 201011:48 AM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    Be it the unintended consequences of the CARD Act signed into law last year making things worse for consumers not better, the controversial safety and hidden fee issues, or the oft-recited studies showing you spend typically 10-30% more when paying with plastic rather than cash, credit cards are getting a lot of bad press these days. And all t...

  • Study: Average investors often trail average fund performance

    March 04th, 201009:33 AM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    Newly published data (PDF) from Morningstar reveal the fund categories in which the average investor is trailing average fund performance. For example, large-cap growth funds: Morningstar found that over the three years ending 12/31/2009, the average fund in that class lost 2.9%, yet the average investor in large-cap growth funds lost 3.6%. Li...

  • Can't have it both ways

    March 03rd, 201002:28 PM ET
    By Mark Biller
    This report on the "state of the postal service" is a great microcosm of the choices we are going to have to increasingly make over the coming years. There's a big financial problem: The U.S. Postal Service estimates $238 billion in losses in the next 10 years if lawmakers, postal regulators and unions don't give the mail agency more flexib...

  • Do you need it — or just want it?

    March 01st, 201008:11 AM ET
    By Matthew Pryor
    As we become a more and more data-centric society, all that information consumption not only eats up our time but also our money. And if you're anything like me (and for your sake I hope you're not), it's easy to fool yourself into categorizing a "want" as a "need." Take, for instance the cell phone. Until January 2009, I was an anti-cellphone...
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A blog for people who want to find their purpose in managing and investing their financial resources