Investments

Say you're putting money aside for a down payment you hope to make in about 18 months. You already have $15,000 and plan to add $800 a month. The money can't go into the stock market, because a b...

Stock market declines are a regular feature of investing, not a rare malfunction. According to Hartford Funds' analysis of Ned Davis Research data through 2025, the S&P 500 has gone through 2...

The plan fits on an index card. Sort out high-interest debt and a small cash cushion. Grab any employer 401(k) match. Open a Roth IRA or a brokerage account with no minimums. Set up an automatic ...

Here is a question plenty of new investors ask in some form: "If a stock pays a 9% dividend and my savings account pays far less, why wouldn't I just buy the stock and live off the checks?"It's a...

Say you set up a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio at the start of the year: 60% in a stock index fund, 40% in a bond fund. It's a good year for stocks. They gain 25%, while bonds eke out 2%. By De...

Take a hypothetical investor who starts with $10,000 and adds $500 a month for 30 years. Her portfolio earns 7% a year before costs. That's an assumption for illustration, not a forecast. The onl...

Here is the short version. To buy a Treasury bill directly from the government, open an account at TreasuryDirect, link a bank account, pick a term, and place a noncompetitive bid before the auct...

At the end of 2025, 61% of participants in Vanguard-administered retirement plans had their entire account in a single target-date fund, according to Vanguard's How America Saves 2026 report. Tha...

Here is the rule that clears up most of the confusion: an ETF and a mutual fund are two different wrappers, not two different investments. An S&P 500 index ETF and an S&P 500 index mutual...

Put a hypothetical $10,000 into an investment that earns 7% a year and leave it alone. After the first year you have $10,700. The $700 is simple interest on your original deposit. In year two, yo...