Are DFA Mutual Funds Worth it?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Dimensional Fund Adviser is a mutual fund company that has been getting quite a bit of press these last few years. My synopsis is that DFA offers institutional index funds and offers a wide variety of them. The downside, however, is that you need to work with a financial adviser ...

Posted in Index Funds, Investing | 10 Comments »

Beginner Advice For Someone New To Personal Finance, Part 1

Monday, September 29th, 2008

I’ve got a friend that has completed his fully funded emergency fund (baby step 3 of Dave Ramsey’s plan), and he and his family (wife + 3 young children) are preparing to start saving for retirement. I would like to help him out by giving him some advice, and I’ve ...

Posted in Basics, Index Funds, Investing | 2 Comments »

Mutual Fund Expenses Should Go Down And Not Up

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

I think it’s interesting that the mutual fund industry is one of the few industries that doesn’t adjust it’s cost structure for economies of scale. In manufacturing, the more of something you produce the less expensive it becomes. It’s called leverage, and because of machines, purchasing power, and technological advancement large ...

Posted in Index Funds, Investing, Rant | No Comments »

Index Funds Are A Commodity, and Checking Accounts Are Too

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Index funds are a commodity. Buy the one that is least expensive. I’m a big believer in marketing and the value of name brands. I love my New Balance running shoes, and I wouldn’t trade them in on a pair of Nike’s for anything (except perhaps a free pair on Nike’s!). I ...

Posted in Banking, Basics, Index Funds, Investing | 3 Comments »