Financial Sites / Blogosphere

[aim-high]

Someone asks Mike, the Oblivious Investor,

On the Bogleheads forum I see people recommending the ‘three fund portfolio’ with Total Stock Market, Total International Stock, and Total Bond Market funds. But I never see something this basic anywhere else. Elsewhere, I see portfolios recommended that include many more funds or articles recommending the new and improved types of index funds. What’s wrong with a normal index fund portfolio? Why doesn’t the three fund portfolio or anything similar get talked about anywhere else?

Why Does Everybody Recommend Complex Portfolios?


I love Mike's honesty in his answer.

Now, to be clear, writers (myself included) are faced with the same dilemma. There isn’t that much to say about a boring market-weighted portfolio made of just a few index funds. And there’s even less to say about a portfolio consisting of nothing but an all-in-one fund. And yet we need topics for articles. So you’ll find us writing about a whole list of other investment strategies.

In other words, at least a part of the reason why simple portfolios using traditional index funds don’t get a great deal of discussion is that, in many cases, it’s more profitable to talk about something else.

 

[RenoJay]

It's always important to figure out an advice-giver's true motivation when evaluating their advice.


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