Investing

I wish mutual fund companies actually sent us a bill each time they charged us. They don’t, of course, so we can easily forget about just how much they cost us. On top of that, not all costs of owning a mutual fund are easy to determine or understand. So here is a quick breakdown…

The first so-called Robo Advisor I recall is Betterment. Several years ago I met its founder, Jon Stein, and recently interviewed him for the podcast. Since then I’ve used or evaluated Motif Investing, Acorns, Wealthfront, Future Advisors, and JemStep. I’ve also used extensively the free Financial Dashboard offered by Empower. It was with this background…

Empower and Betterment have grown into two of the most popular financial platforms on the web. Empower offers a free financial account aggregator, and also a premium Wealth Management service. Betterment is the largest independent robo-advisor, and stays strictly with investment management. But if you had to choose one or the other–Empower vs. Betterment–which way…

This review of Vanguard Personal Advisor services is based on my actual experiences. I migrated my spouse’s portfolio to Vanguard and considered using its advisor service to maintain that portfolio. The portfolio was held at a large, full-service broker and was charged an annual fee of 1.5% of assets under management. By comparison, Vanguard charges…

One of the best ways to build wealth over time is to invest. Keeping track of your portfolio isn’t always easy, though. If you’re looking for the best stock tracking app, there are a few opportunities to stay on top of the situation. Here are the top stock tracking apps. Stock Tracking App Best For…

It’s without a doubt the most frequent question I receive from readers of this blog. People want to know whether they should put their retirement savings in a Roth or traditional retirement account. I’ve written a lot about these retirement options. If you are new to retirement accounts, I’d suggest you start by reading some…

Credit Karma Home can match you with lenders and agents and offers powerful tools and calculators to make the home buying process easier and less stressful. Buying a home is a stressful process. Real estate can cost a considerable amount of money. For many people, a home is the most expensive thing they’ll ever purchase….

I recently received an email from a reader named Shameer. His message prompted a great question, which I wanted to share with you all: Would you suggest having my SEP IRA at Betterment or Vanguard? It’s new, I have no money in there now. But I wanna choose and be done with it. I’m listening…

In a real way, Personal Capital has something for everyone. That’s true whether you are a novice finding your way through the financial universe or if you have a large investment portfolio you need professionally managed. The free financial dashboard is for anyone who wants better control over their finances. It offers some of the…