Resources and Stories for Real People

Imagine you’ve been granted a choice from a magic (retirement) genie. He asks if you’d rather have $100K at the start of your retirement or $500 per month for the duration of your retirement. Which would you choose? Or, what if the choice was $200K versus $1K per month? Which

Many consider Warren Buffett to be the most famous value investor the world has ever known. This can be debated, but with an investment career that spans nearly seven decades, he has undeniably learned a thing or two about markets. How else would you get a nickname like the Oracle

Two years ago, the concentration of the U.S. stock market in its largest companies looked high compared to recent history. Today, some might say market concentration appears really high. At the end of 2024, the 10 largest companies in the S&P 500® Index made up 37.3% of the index by

Consider your answer to the following question: “Suppose you are given an opportunity to replace your current investment portfolio with a new portfolio. The new portfolio has a 50-50 chance to increase by 50% your standard of living during your lifetime. However, the new portfolio also has a 50-50 chance

International Stocks vs. U.S. Stocks International stocks have not done well recently compared with U.S. stocks. The 2024 return of international stocks (as measured by the MSCI World ex USA Index) was just under 5%, lagging by nearly 20 percentage points the return of U.S. stocks (as measured by the

After a 26% total return from the S&P 500® Index in 2023, few predicted 2024 would deliver another big year of gains for U.S. stocks. But it did. Not only did the S&P 500 post a 25% return for the year, but the index reached 61 new all-time highs. Together,