Investing

Like most investors, I learned early about the elegance of the 60/40 portfolio.
Sixty percent stocks for growth. Forty percent bonds for stability.
I studied why it worked. Stocks historically delivered long-term returns, bonds reduced volatility, and periodic rebalancing enforced discipline.  60/40 has proved itself as a durable framework. It wasn’t exciting, but it was resilient.
I understood its importance. It shaped how I thought about diversification, risk, and balance—and it still does.
For many investors,

Vanguard just announced that they cut expense ratios of many funds:
“Vanguard has lowered expense ratios for 84 mutual fund and exchange-traded share classes across 53 funds, amounting to nearly $250 million in fee reductions in 2026. ”
Some popular ones:
VBIL 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF from 0.07% to 0.06%
VIG Dividend ETF from 0.05% to 0.04%
VUG Growth ETF from 0.04% to 0.03%
VV Large Cap from 0.04% to 0.03%
VB Small Cap from 0.05% to 0.03%
Full list

LISTEN TO THE financial news, and you’ll often hear reference to “the VIX.” But what exactly is the VIX, and how important is it?
The VIX index is intended to be a measure of investor sentiment. For that reason, it’s often referred to as the market’s “fear gauge.” How can investor sentiment be measured? While the math is complex, it’s based on a straightforward principle: When investors get nervous, they look for ways to protect their portfolios and are sometimes even willing to pay for that protection.

Gold fever seems to be everywhere at the moment. My grandson asked me the other day, “Do you own any gold, Pops?”
I said no and asked why he was curious. Apparently, even ten-year-olds know that gold is having quite a run. Pushing through the $5,000 mark had captured his imagination.
There’s something amusing about being financially questioned by a ten-year-old who only recently discovered the tooth fairy isn’t real. I’ve been investing for decades, and I’m getting the third degree from a kid whose worldly wealth consists entirely of football cards and a bag of loose change.

Several times in the recent past I have extolled the HumbleDollar archives as a place to find some great information. I just came across a six year old Grossman article that is relevant today. Private Equity investments are finding their way into 401K and other investment vehicles that are accessible to common folk like you and me. Adam provides some great information about Private Equity, as well as some great questions to consider if considering such an investment. 

Charles Schwab SCHW -2.73%decrease; red down pointing triangle reported a 34% increase in quarterly profit after trading and net interest revenue climbed.

Net income rose to $2.46 billion, or $1.33 a share, from $1.84 billion, or 94 cents, in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1.39 excluding certain one-time items. On that basis, Schwab fell just short of analysts’ average estimates of $1.40 a share, according to FactSet.
Individual investors flooded into financial markets last year, buoyed by back-to-back years of strong returns and empowered by expanded access to new assets and product types.

I’d like to claim that skill, but alas it’s not true. I’m closer to being a saver with patience, but I have little patience with detail. If I was a civil engineer like my son, you would not want to drive over one of my bridges.
I truly admire HD writers who can delve into the nitty gritty of investing and those who understand it all. I’m still wondering what happened to the American Stock Exchange. 

Back in the day when people actually got magazines in the mail, there was an axiom that said: “When Time magazine has a bull on the cover, it is time to sell; when it has a bear on the cover, it is time to buy.”   This was an easy-to-follow contrarian indicator. If the bull or the bear are so clear that the non-financial press picks up on it, the trend must be long in the tooth.

In November 2025 CalPERS, a $600 billion pension plan, announced it would adopt the Total Portfolio Approach.
The model rethinks portfolio construction. “Instead of starting with a fixed split, such as 60% stocks and 40% bonds, it begins by examining how different investments behave…..The goal is a portfolio that behaves more predictably when markets get rough.”
“The Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) is a holistic investment strategy that integrates all assets into a unified portfolio, focusing on overall performance rather than managing asset classes in isolation.”
To accomplish this,

IN THE EARLY 1950S, journalist Walter Winchell popularized the term “frienemies” when he used it to describe the fraying relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Today, we’re seeing a similar dynamic in our relationship with China. This makes it an important topic for investors. 
Not long ago, the relationship between the U.S. and China was strong and mutually beneficial. Over the past 25 years, trade between the two countries has multiplied.

MY COWORKER RECENTLY retired. He is 50 years old and has been with the company for over 25 years.
The company offers a decent 401(k) match (100% match on 6% of your salary) along with other great benefits.
In his case, how can he generate income? How can you retire early if most of your assets are in retirement plans?
Most tax-advantaged accounts have restrictions on withdrawals, but there are a few strategies that many people don’t know of:
 

I’m an index investor, which obviously means I don’t pick stocks. It’s a comfortable position. When you own the entire market, you’re not making choices, you’re just participating in the market as a neutral observer.
My strategy has always been simple: buy broad index funds, reinvest the dividends, ignore the noise. No stock picking, no market timing, no cleverness required. The kind of investing you can explain at a dinner party without boring your guests too much.

I received this letter from Fidelity this morning. Interesting that they are now saying that some major index funds may not be diversified investments. What can you do about it? Invest your portfolio in other funds such as fixed income, international, value, or small cap?
 
Index Fund Policy Changes
Dear Shareholder,
Effective November 10, 2025, the “Principal Investment Strategies” and “Principal
Investment Risks” sections of the prospectus of each index fund shown in the table
below was modified to indicate that the fund may operate as a non-diversified fund,

When I sold my business and retired last year, I decided to keep two years of expenses in cash to avoid thinking about portfolio withdrawals immediately. I’ve worked through most of the first year’s buffer, and with recent strong equity returns, I’ve moved some gains into a money market fund to replenish my cash reserves.
Since this cash is earmarked for spending 24 months from now, I was initially planning to just leave it sitting in the money market fund—rates are still around 4% at the moment.

“The riskiness of an investment is not measured by beta but rather by the probability—the reasoned probability—of that investment causing its owner a loss of purchasing-power over his contemplated holding period. Assets can fluctuate greatly in price and not be risky as long as they are reasonably certain to deliver increased purchasing power over their holding period. And a non-fluctuating asset can be laden with risk.” — Warren Buffett, in his 2011 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter.