Investing in ETFs For Dummies

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Russell Wild. Investing in ETFs For Dummies

Introduction

About This Book

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I. Getting Started with ETFs

Chapter 1. The (Sort of Still) New Kid on the Block

What the Heck Is an ETF, Anyway?

Why the Big Boys Prefer ETFs

Why Individual Investors Are Learning to Love ETFs

Getting the Professional Edge

Passive versus Active Investing: Your Choice

Do ETFs Belong in Your Life?

Chapter 2. Getting to Know the Players

Creating an Account for Your ETFs

Introducing the Shops

Presenting the Suppliers

Familiarizing Yourself with the Indexers

Part II. Getting to Know ETFs

Chapter 3. Large Growth and Large Value

Utilizing the Monsters of Money-Making: Large-Growth Stocks

Looking into Stocks Big and Brawny

Large Cap ETF Options Galore

Large Value: Counterintuitive Cash Cows

Looking for the Best Value Buys

Chapter 4. Small Growth and Small Value

Harnessing Small Growth with Sweet Start-Ups

Your Choices for Small Growth

Opting for Small Value: Diminutive Dazzlers

Chapter 5. Going Global: ETFs Without Borders

The Ups and Downs of Different Markets around the World

Finding Your Best Mix of Domestic and International

Not All Foreign Nations – or Stocks – Are Created Equal

Choosing the Best International ETFs for Your Portfolio

Chapter 6. Sector Investing and Specialized Stocks

Selecting Stocks by Sector, Not Style

Sector Choices by the Dozen

Specialized Stock ETFs: Investing for a Better World

Dividend Funds: The Search for Steady Money

Investing in Initial Public Offerings

Funds That (Supposedly) Thrive When the Market Takes a Dive

Funds That Double the Thrill of Investing (for Better or Worse)

All-in-One ETFs: For the Ultimate Lazy Portfolio

Chapter 7. For Your Interest: The World of Bond ETFs

Tracing the Track Record of Bonds

Tapping into Bonds in Various Ways

Sampling a Basic Bond-ETF Menu

Moving Beyond Basics into Municipal and Foreign Bonds

Chapter 8. REITs, Commodities, and Active ETFs

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

All That Glitters: Gold, Silver, and Other Commodities

Going Active with ETFs

Part III. Customizing and Optimizing Your ETF Portfolio

Chapter 9. Sample ETF Portfolio Menus

So, How Much Risk Can You Handle and Still Sleep at Night?

Keys to Optimal Investing

Finding the Perfect Portfolio Fit

Aiming for Economic Self-Sufficiency in Your Golden Years

Curing the 401(k) Blues

Chapter 10. Understanding Risk and Return

Risk Is Not Just a Board Game

Smart Risk, Foolish Risk

How Risk Is Measured

Meet Modern Portfolio Theory

Mixing and Matching Your Stock ETFs

Chapter 11. Exercising Patience and Learning Exceptions

The Tale of the Average Investor (A Tragicomedy in One Act)

Patience Pays, Literally

Exceptions to the Rule (Ain’t There Always)

Are Options an Option for You?

Part IV. The Part of Tens

Chapter 12. Ten FAQs about ETFs

Are ETFs Appropriate for Individual Investors?

Are ETFs Risky?

Do I Need a Financial Professional to Set Up and Monitor an ETF Portfolio?

How Much Money Do I Need to Invest in ETFs?

With Hundreds of ETFs to Choose from, Where Do I Start?

Where Is the Best Place for Me to Buy ETFs?

Is There an Especially Good or Bad Time to Buy ETFs?

Do ETFs Have Any Disadvantages?

Does It Matter Which Exchange My ETF Is Traded On?

Which ETFs Are Best in My IRA, and Which Are Best in My Taxable Account?

Chapter 13. Ten Mistakes Most Investors (Even Smart Ones) Make

Paying Too Much for an Investment

Failing to Properly Diversify

Taking on Inappropriate Risks

Selling Out When the Going Gets Tough

Paying Too Much Attention to Recent Performance

Not Saving Enough for Retirement

Having Unrealistic Expectations of Market Returns

Discounting the Damaging Effect of Inflation

Not Following the IRS’s Rules

Failing to Incorporate Investments into a Broader Financial Plan

About the Author

Author’s Acknowledgments

Отрывок из книги

Every month, it seems, Wall Street comes up with some newfangled investment idea. The array of financial products (replete with 164-page prospectuses) is now so dizzying that the old lumpy mattress is starting to look like a more comfortable place to stash the cash. But there is one relatively new product out there definitely worth looking at. It’s something of a cross between an index mutual fund and a stock, and it’s called an exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

Just as computers and fax machines were used by big institutions before they caught on with individual consumers, so it was with ETFs. They were first embraced by institutional traders – investment banks, hedge funds, and insurance firms – because, among other things, they allow for the quick juggling of massive holdings. Big traders like that sort of thing. Personally, playing hot potato with my money is not my idea of fun. But all the same, over the past several years, I’ve invested most of my own savings in ETFs, and I’ve suggested to many of my clients that they do the same.

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A company I’ll call ABC Pharmaceutical sees its stock shoot up by 68 percent because the firm just earned an important patent for a new diet pill; a month later, the stock falls by 84 percent because a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the new diet pill causes people to hallucinate and think they’re Ghandi – or Martha Stewart.

Compared to the world of individual stocks, the stock market as a whole is as smooth as a morning lake. Heck, a daily rise or fall in the Dow of more than a percent or two (well, 2 or 3 percent these days) is generally considered a pretty big deal.

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