The Financial Literacy Riddle
The majority of Americans cannot pass a basic financial literacy quiz featuring questions like: A 15-year mortgage typically requires higher monthly payments than a 30-year mortgage but the total interest over the life of the loan will be less. True or False? Go ahead...
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20 of the Best Quotes on ETFs
Source: ETF.com Low Cost “There shall be an ETF for every asset class, and it shall be virtually free to own.” - Matt Hougan & Dave Nadig via ETF.com “One of the most attractive elements of ETFs is their cost structure. Because ETFs are based on indexes, there’s no...
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Negative ETF Fees = Negative for Investors???
I recently chronicled the latest flare-up in the savage ETF fee war. In the span of two weeks, we saw filings for the first “free” ETFs, the launch of the cheapest (for now) ETF, and meaningful fee moves from four of the top five ETF providers. Then it happened. ...
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ETF Fee War Reignites
“If you lower it, they will come.” -Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas I recently declared the ETF fee war officially over: “My sense is the majority of companies offering plain-vanilla ETFs simply don’t have much room to drop fees any further. Sure, some will still jockey...
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The ETF Echo Chamber
ETFs have democratized investing, but they haven’t democratized financial and ETF literacy. Several years ago, I was meeting a friend at a packed coffee shop when the conversation veered into a slightly heated debate over whether the average person knew what an ETF...
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5 Takeaways from Inside ETFs 2019
The world’s premier ETF conference convened in Hollywood, Florida this past week with pretty much everyone who’s anyone in ETFs attending. Financial advisors, fund companies, and analysts were among the 2,300+ attendees preaching or being preached the ETF gospel. ...
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Jack Bogle: An ETF is Like Handing an Arsonist a Match
The investment world recently lost a legend when Vanguard Founder Jack Bogle, the father of indexing and low-cost investing, passed away at age 89. Jack had a complicated relationship with ETFs. While he came to appreciate low cost, broad-based index ETFs, he had...
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5 ETF Predictions for 2019
There’s an old saying that “prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”. Please. Check out my 2018 ETF predictions, where I’m going to give myself a little leeway and say I nailed 5 out of 5. You be the judge – and no question my bonus prediction of...
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ETFs – Year in Pictures
Another eventful year in ETFs is one best experienced in pictures. If you missed my earlier ETF pictorials, see here: ETFs in Pictures I ETFs in Pictures II Without further ado, let's look back at the year that was in ETFs. Enjoy! ETF Growth ETF assets hit record...
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Investing in Marijuana: High Crime?
“It’s actually growing from the ground straight to you, so it’s just like eating a vegetable. You know what I’m saying?” – Snoop Dogg About this time last year, two questions I kept fielding were “What is bitcoin?” and “Is there a bitcoin ETF?”. This year, with...
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