Unfortunately, the illusions that you refer to are ingrained in the minds of people who came into the markets in the giddy days of the dot com mania!

Just reading the comments above suggests that many people still just do not get it. Studies after studies have demonstrated conclusively that the primary determinant of portfolio returns over a long investment horizon is asset allocation with little benefit ascribed to stock selection.

That is not to say that there is no room for short term trading or stock picking – just that it should represents a small potion of ones overall portfolio.

Besides, a key issue here is transaction costs and a major factor in favor of mutual funds is the very low expense ratios that they incur. One of the comments above advocating that people create their own index fund obviously fails to realize this crucial fact.

When I met my husband, he made very little money, had debt, and knew nothing about investing. If I had “said good-bye” as she suggests, I never would have fallen in love with the most caring, compassionate, amazing man I ever met! He worked in a job where he really helped people and made a true difference in the world. It never has and never will pay well, but he feels there are some things more important than money, and like many people with low incomes he had trouble making ends meet. I feel sorry for any woman who turns a man down because of such a situation – you just don’t know what you might be missing.

Now, I work at a good job because I want the house, the nice vacations, and new clothes. My husband would be just as happy without that stuff, and I truly appreciate his perspective. I don’t look down at him because he’s not interested in having fancy toys or fat bank accounts, just as he doesn’t look down on me for being focused on material goals. Our lives are richer together than either of us would be alone- and I mean richer in every sense, not just financially. IMO, that’s a great marriage.

As to the purpose of this post. JPL shows you how to save tons of money by investing for yourself.

I read over this article and have to say that it should be taking with a grain of salt. He left out alot of factors when he did the math to figure out the savings on not paying a broker. The most important snafu in his article is the assumption that both investment plans will yeild the same returns. Not only is this very unlikely. It is nearly impossible. Much more likely is the one recommended by the broker who has a great deal more research and experince doing this type of thing will return much more than the other. The fees that he showed are also incorrect. Most investors do not end up costing that much with different refunds and other sliding scales that are in use. I hate to say it, on the surface this seems like a great article but it really is poor advice unless you are very far into the know how on this type of thing. Of course if you are. You didn’t need that article.

As opposed to the flood of recent posts?