Investing Specialists

Ideas for improving your portfolio, lowering your tax bill, and wringing more from your cash holdings.

Vanguard's retired global CIO riffs on indexing, market efficiency, governance, alternative investing, and more in this wide-ranging conversation.

Managers continue to buy wide-moat stocks.

These three maneuvers will tend to deliver a higher tax benefit than writing a check and deducting it, and may even improve your portfolio.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

The noted retirement researcher explores 401(k)s, "the annuity puzzle," long-term care, and Social Security.

Consider adjusting your portfolio's mix to get a more customized fit.

Our annual compendium of long-term care statistics on usage, cost, insurance, and caregivers.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

With three kids and a single income, it's time to create a portfolio that can address this young family's multiple goals.

With seven to 10 years to go until retirement, a pre-retiree assesses what adjustments are in order.

A value-investing maven explains why bargain-hunting has lagged.

With retirement on the horizon, a couple checks up on the viability of their plan.

In a pricey housing market, early career savers grapple with balancing retirement savings alongside their goal of owning a home.

Several funds dive into financial services and undervalued healthcare stocks.

A strong market has propelled the portfolio of this retired couple, but what if the next decade isn't as good?

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Adding international stocks has some benefits, but it's not a magic bullet.

Many funds are planning big payouts, but massive distributions are less common than they were a year ago.

A leading consumer advocate discusses whether small investors should have access to private markets, fee trends, and how recent financial-advisor regulation falls short.

Our to-do list can help you reduce the tax pain in April.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

The 4% guideline can put you in the right ballpark, but the best spending policies factor in time horizon, asset allocation, and market fluctuations.

An accomplished growth investor, Lynch explains how his team seeks to gain an edge, susses out the difference between innovation and mission creep, and applies different frameworks to mitigate biases and errors.

RMD-related tax bills hurt, but surgical pruning of problem positions can help you raise cash and reduce risk.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Many people put off creating a long-term-care plan. This step-by-step guide can help you get over inertia, dread, or both.

The behavioral finance expert discusses what our financial choices say about us and whether investors' decisions are becoming more rational.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Why the financial-services industry needs to do better for the financially vulnerable among us.

The Dodge & Cox CEO and bond-fund manager on overseeing a fundholder-friendly firm and why she believes in an active approach to fixed-income investing.

For high-income investors who are maxing out other tax-sheltered accounts, the high-deductible healthcare plan/HSA combo is close to a no-brainer.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

If you're signing up for employer-provided benefits, don't just re-up for last year's choices; read this first.

Morningstar's director of global ETF research on fee wars, performance-chasing investors, and whether passive funds are doing their fair share for corporate governance.

Accumulators with short- and intermediate-term financial goals can employ the concept, too.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Rules of thumb may be too high for affluent retirees with high savings rates, but healthcare costs are a major swing factor.

The prominent retirement researcher discusses Social Security's viability, the role of housing wealth, and a surprising new finding about married couple's retirement preparedness.

You may be switching to cut costs, but watch out: You may trigger additional fees along the way.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Get out those calendars: It's time for Medicare open enrollment, RMDs, mutual fund capital gains distributions, and more.

A respected retirement researcher discusses what types of spending are correlated with a better retirement--and which are not.

Use our template to document your retirement assets, strategy, and spending system.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and ETFs.

Addressing portfolio problem spots often involves a tax bill; here's how to avoid paying extra and possibly even save.

T. Rowe Price's senior financial planner shares planning and portfolio to-dos for 20-somethings, people in their 70s and beyond, and everyone in between.

The answer depends on what you're trying to accomplish--and the product you choose.

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and ETFs.

Morningstar's lead retirement researcher on retiree spending patterns, asset allocation, and mitigating the risks in a plan.