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Morningstar Runs the Numbers

We take a numerical look through this week's Morningstar research. Plus, our most popular articles and videos for the week ended May 25.

Inspired by Harper's Index (with a tip of the hat to FiveThirtyEight's Significant Digits blog), Morningstar Runs the Numbers uses a numbers-based approach to highlight recent Morningstar research, along with some outside news stories.

3 Many Vanguard funds are large and getting larger, but a handful of the firm's funds are still relatively small. Director of manager research Russ Kinnel discusses three of the firm's hidden gems that have less than $3 billion in assets.

12%

"While we continue to believe the company features top- and bottom-line growth potential (our long-term forecast calls for mid-single-digit revenue growth against 12% adjusted operating margins over the next decade) with a strong record of success, we counsel investors to await a more attractive entry point."

35 An investment-related topic on Twitter is stoking outrage. The incredulous tweets were in response to a MarketWatch article that suggested that by age 35, you should have twice your salary saved. So what does it take to save twice your salary by age 35, and 10 times your salary by age 67 (full retirement age)? The answer is that it isn't as impossible as you might believe. We break it down here.

$17,120 If you've noticed that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been looking pretty sharp lately, it's because LeBron James gave each of his teammates a new clothing wardrobe that retails for $17,120, according to ESPN.com.

"James, looking to create a unified team experience for Cleveland's postseason run, paired with New York-based designer Thom Browne to gift each of his teammates three of Browne's signature Super 120s twill suits (a light grey, a grey and a charcoal), white oxford shirts, cashmere cardigan sweaters, sunglasses, ties, black pebble grain leather boots (or calf leather low-cut trainers), a charcoal Chesterfield overcoat, a bag and a sweat suit with Browne's distinct 4-bar detail."

4 Bumps in the road are inevitable in any investing horizon of 25 or 30 years: Indeed, the past 18 years have been pockmarked by two major bear markets. But for new retirees, those downturns can prove especially painful and even lethal. The reason is what retirement researchers call "sequencing risk" or "sequence of return risk." That means that encountering big losses early in retirement while simultaneously spending from a portfolio reduces the amount of assets that are in place for the market's eventual recovery. Director of personal finance Christine Benz offers four tips to ensure that if the market gets off to a nasty start during your retirement years, you won't deal your portfolio a death blow.

2x2 A recent article in Barron's suggested investors are fleeing active funds in droves, and not even successful active funds have been immune. Does this signal the death of active funds altogether? Head of global manager research Jeff Ptak doesn't think so. By looking at a two-by-two analysis of all active funds' trailing 12-month organic growth rates as of April 30, 2018, Ptak showed that winning large-growth mutual funds account for a disproportionate share of outflows from successful active U.S. stock funds overall, but other asset classes don't show the same trend.

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Most Requested Stock Quotes Apple Amazon.com General Electric Facebook Bank of America

Most Requested Fund Quotes Vanguard 500 Index Fidelity Contrafund T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Dodge & Cox Stock

Most Requested ETF Quotes SPDR S&P 500 ETF Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF PowerShares QQQ Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

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