5 Companies Comprise One-Third of S&P 500 Returns – Is This the Death of Diversification?

Everyone is always eager to declare the death of diversification. They say it fails in a crisis, that correlations are going up throughout the markets, or that building a diversified portfolio is just too dang time-consuming and expensive (seriously). Now people are ringing the same death knell because so much of the market’s returns are […]
Heads My Stocks Win, Tails Yours Lose: The Difference Between Daily Returns and a Coin Flip

We all wonder how the markets did today. Whether it’s actually useful information or not doesn’t seem to matter. Daily returns present an easy, attention-grabbing story the media can fill a couple minutes with every day.
Do Bonds Help Diversify Your Investment Portfolio?

Diversification is a good thing. It’s the only free lunch in finance.
The Possibilities of Broader Diversification in Retirement

Often, retirees are limited to accepting whatever a researcher assumes about market returns in order to obtain guidance about sustainable spending rates. I proposed a general framework for determining a safe withdrawal rate for a given retirement duration, acceptable failure probability, asset allocation, and capital market expectations.
Should You Use a Rising Equity Glide Path in Retirement?

Retirement income comes in many forms. Wade Pfau considers the pros and cons of a rising equity glide path.
The Dangers of Putting Our Faith in Statistics

Statistics are great and all, but just because the numbers say something will happen doesn’t make it the gospel truth.
Which Makes More Sense for Retirees: A Total-Return or Income Portfolio?

Total-return investing focuses on building diversified portfolios from stocks and bonds to seek greater long-term investment growth.
How Index Investing Became What It Is Today

Index investing came from humble beginnings to become one of the most widely used strategies in use today.
What Is the Stock Market and How Does It Work?

Before you go investing your life savings in the stock market, you should have a basic understanding of what the market is and how it works.
How Can I Manage Sequence Risk in Retirement?

Sequence of returns risk is a major concern for even the most well-prepared retirees, but there are steps you can take to manage it.