Monthly Archives: October 2009

investing

Cognitive skills and financial choices

How does your ability to make financial decisions change over time?

One research study suggests that, across the population, financial skill follows a hump-shaped pattern. In our youth, we start with low levels of financial knowledge. Over time, our ability …

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retirement

401(k) performance: The numbers add up

I’m a little tired of reading about how “buy and hold” is dead, and diversification doesn’t work, and how “target-date funds don’t work,” and that there was too much risk, especially for pre-retirees, in these balanced funds. These stories seem …

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19 Comments
taxes

Coming soon: More of a good thing

There’s a savings vehicle in which all earnings, appreciation, and interest can be free of income tax forever. If the rules are met, there’s no RMD to be taken, no income tax due on withdrawals, and, while the account assets …

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investing

Do you have the bond gene?

One of the smartest people I know—a brilliant copy editor—used to shake her head as she read articles about bonds and the bond market.

“I think you have to be born with the bond gene to understand bonds,” she would …

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92 Comments
retirement

Bad facts, bad story

There are only two reasons you appear on the cover of Time magazine—either you are receiving plaudits from the media, or you’re about to be tarred and feathered. 401(k)s are featured on the cover of Time this week, and it’s …

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26 Comments
taxes

Death and taxes

Ben Franklin definitely had it right when he said that nothing is certain except death and taxes. And you can be sure that as we get closer to the end of the year, we’ll hear lots of discussions on tax …

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Visit vanguard.com or contact your broker to obtain a Vanguard ETF or fund prospectus which contains investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other information; read and consider carefully before investing.

Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in Creation Unit aggregations. Instead, investors must buy or sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market with the assistance of a stockbroker. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.

Investments in bond funds are subject to interest rate, credit, and inflation risk.

Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.

Foreign investing involves additional risks including currency fluctuations and political uncertainty.

Stocks of companies in emerging markets are generally more risky than stocks of companies in developed countries.

An investment in a money market fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Although a money market fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in such a fund.

All investing is subject to risk, including possible loss of principal.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor