Featured Post

Clearly, Not Everyone Is Getting Rich Off The Stock Market

By -
Image
Well, the NY Fed was out today with its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for Q4 2017. Clearly, Americans are in a lot of debt. Take a look. Just a couple of quick hits from the report. Total U.S. household debt rose $193 billion in the 4th quarter, to a new all-time peak of $13.15 trillion. That's 17.9% above the most recent trough in Q2 2013. Broken down by segment, what do you suppose was the largest gain in percentage terms? Credit cards, with a 3.2% increase. In the picture above, the widening gap represented by the red arrows reflects the fact that non-housing debt is rising at a faster pace than housing debt. Here's what's troubling about that. Below is a picture of the stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 index, over that same period; from the most recent credit trough in Q2 2013 to the end of 2017. And thus, the title of this article. Over that period, the S&P 500 index rose by 75%; from roughly 1,600 to 2,800. Apparently, ho
9 comments

Presenting: The ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio

By -
NOTE: This article was written for exclusive publication on Seeking Alpha. Per their guidelines, I am reproducing approximately the first 250 words here, followed by a link to the source article for those interested in reading further.

Summary

  • This article is the "wrapper" that packages my first three articles for Seeking Alpha.
  • We will build and track the ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio.
  • The complete methodology used to build the portfolio will be outlined, as well as statistics outlining its contents, diversification, and weighted expense ratio.
  • Lastly, I will share details on how to use a cool, free tool to track the portfolio such that you can try it yourself, if interested.
  • In summary, all modesty aside, this is the article that you will want to share with any friends who are interested in trying out ETF investing for the first time.


This article is intended as the "wrapper" for the package containing my first three articles for Seeking Alpha.
The title of each article led off with the words "Building The Core With Vanguard." The reasons I selected Vanguard for my first efforts are enumerated in this article from my personal blog. The first article in the series featured domestic stocks, and introduced readers to the very first ETF ever offered by Vanguard, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA:VTI). The second featured domestic bonds, and discussed the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA:BND). The third and final article in the series moved to foreign stocks, and highlighted the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF(NYSEARCA:VEU).

Beautiful Simplicity

What we will now do is build and track a simple portfolio using just these three ETFs. At first glance, this might seem overly simplistic. . . . 
Please continue to Seeking Alpha to enjoy the rest of the article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3298415-presenting-the-etf-monkey-vanguard-core-portfolio. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clearly, Not Everyone Is Getting Rich Off The Stock Market

By -
Image
Well, the NY Fed was out today with its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for Q4 2017. Clearly, Americans are in a lot of debt. Take a look. Just a couple of quick hits from the report. Total U.S. household debt rose $193 billion in the 4th quarter, to a new all-time peak of $13.15 trillion. That's 17.9% above the most recent trough in Q2 2013. Broken down by segment, what do you suppose was the largest gain in percentage terms? Credit cards, with a 3.2% increase. In the picture above, the widening gap represented by the red arrows reflects the fact that non-housing debt is rising at a faster pace than housing debt. Here's what's troubling about that. Below is a picture of the stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 index, over that same period; from the most recent credit trough in Q2 2013 to the end of 2017. And thus, the title of this article. Over that period, the S&P 500 index rose by 75%; from roughly 1,600 to 2,800. Apparently, ho
Read more

Best iShares ETFs - A Core Portfolio For Fidelity Brokerage Clients

By -
Image
This article is designed for individuals who are Fidelity Brokerage clients, as I am, and who have an interest in building a low-cost, diversified ETF portfolio. Here are just a couple of very valid scenarios for considering this subject: You have a 401(k) account from a former employer which you have just left sitting there because you don't quite know what to do with the funds. Likely, you are paying annual fees of 1-2% on those investments. You may be able to roll those funds into a Fidelity IRA and create a core ETF portfolio with an overall expense ratio of perhaps one-tenth that amount, with the difference going straight into your pocket. You already have, or wish to establish, a non-retirement investment account at Fidelity. You wish to invest in modest monthly increments while ensuring that your investments are well-diversified. NOTE: If you are new to ETFs, you can learn a little more about them here . However, since ETFs trade just like stocks, trading commissi
Read more

Here's What It Takes To Afford The Median Home In San Francisco

By -
Image
Couldn't help but notice this article from Bloomberg the other day featuring the fact that San Francisco's median home price just hit a new high of $1.6 million. Just to make sure we're clear on terms, median price means that price at which half the transactions are higher and half the transactions are lower . Put a different way, this means that 1 out of every 2 homes currently available for sale in San Francisco is priced at $1.6 million or higher. I got curious as to what that implies about affordability. What does it take, in the current mortgage rate environment, to purchase such a home? Here's the "standard" answer, from bankrate.com . As it turns out, at least from the terms available on this website, one must be able to put down 20% to qualify for the 30-year jumbo loan needed to buy such a home. So, you have to be able to come up with $320,000 just to play. Assuming you can pony up that sort of cash, you get the privilege of tying yourse
Read more