In his annual Wall Street Journal start-of-the-year stock market analysis, Rebalance Investment Committee member Professor Burton Malkiel explains how best to invest for 2016 in an “expensive” market. How do you invest when everything is expensive? U.S. stocks are selling at more than 25 times their cyclically adjusted earnings. Bond yields are unusually low (the… Continue reading →

In case you missed it, a chart making the rounds in financial circles puts a fine point on what happens when a $3 trillion gorilla walks into a room. That’s the level of assets under management at Vanguard, the low-cost fund giant created by the legendary John Bogle. In short, when Bogle’s crew comes into… Continue reading →

My partner and Rebalance Managing Director Scott Puritz recently gave an interview to USA Today sure to raise the hackles of thousands of retirement advisors: The typical 60/40 stock-and-bond portfolio is fast becoming a problem for millions of American savers. The idea, which dates back decades, is to hold about 60% of your retirement portfolio in stocks and… Continue reading →

Sally Brandon, Vice President of Client Services, explains why it’s usually better to finance your retirement instead of your kids’ needs, such as a saving for college. More on kids and retirement priorities. transcript I think it’s an interesting thing that I’m having to deal with personally right now. I have a son that’s a senior… Continue reading →

You’re a recent college graduate. Now that you’ve started your first job, you’re probably wondering how to spend some of that new salary. A vacation? A car? Maybe you should be thinking instead about saving for retirement. That’s right. It’s time to put money away — ideally 10% to 20% of your annual take-home pay… Continue reading →

What makes an investment fund cheap to own? Low fund fees, of course. But investors completely misunderstand what “low” means, charges Vanguard Group founder John Bogle. The problem comes with using percentages, specifically percentage expense ratios, to gauge the value of a fund relative to its cost of doing business. Consider something you buy every week,… Continue reading →

Elizabeth Warren, the hard-charging Senator from Massachusetts, has new questions for financial advisors who sell annuity products to folks nearing retirement age: If an annuity company gives advisors rewards and incentives such as resort vacations, iPads and jewelry, isn’t that a huge conflict of interest? Warren recently made headlines in an important Senate Committee hearing at… Continue reading →

You might be surprised to see occasional headlines bemoaning the poor performance of hedge funds compared to the market indexes. Not Warren Buffett. Hedge fund managers serve two masters: their clients and themselves. That sounds like a solid alignment of interests, but it’s not, the billionaire investor says. That’s because hedge fund chiefs get paid win… Continue reading →

Saving has a reputation for not being much fun. It smacks of deprivation and penny-pinching, of spending your vacation at the Jersey Shore instead of the French Riviera. About half of Americans say they have only enough cash on hand to live for six months, reports Bankrate.com, and 25% can only pay their bills for… Continue reading →