Also, stock-market momentum and picks, and how to save a lot of money watching TikTok
Catey Hill once again helps readers to find destinations for retirement living based on their individual circumstances and wants. This week she offers up three beautiful locations to a couple with a specific medical problem, relatively low income and a desire to live near the ocean.
A different way to see the wealth gap
This one chart sums up how dire millennials’ finances are compared to other generations when they were the same age.
Luxurious college amenities
One reason millennials have more difficulty building wealth is their student debt. But then there’s this: tapas bars, high-end gyms and pet services all included in the cost of tuition and room and board. How did a college education turn into a luxury vacation?
For investors — to weight, or not to weight?
The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.91% is incredibly important to U.S. investors. The largest mutual fund tracking the index — the Vanguard 500 Index Fund VFIAX, +0.92% — has $520 billion in assets under management, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF has SPY, +0.91% $290 billion.
The benchmark index is weighted by market capitalization, which means the largest five companies — Apple AAPL, +1.93%, Microsoft MSFT, +1.21%, Amazon.com AMZN, +0.64%, FB, +0.85% and JPMorgan Chase JPM, +1.49% — make up 16% of the index. The largest 10 make up 24%.
Last year, Howard Gold used long-term data to show that equal-weighted index funds and ETFs have performed better than indexes that weight companies by market capitalization. Now Mark Hubert argues that cap-weighted indexes are better because they take advantage of the “momentum effect,” and that’s been a much more important driver for stock prices than the “contrarianism” that the structure of an equal-weight index promotes.
More on momentum
Momentum stocks — those that have risen rapidly — tend to appear expensive. Michael Brush identifies 30 momentum stocks that look cheap enough to buy now.
A fresh FIRE story
Kiersten and Julien Saunders point the way to cutting debt, managing expenses and working together toward financial independence.
Do you want to time the stock market?
Andrea Riquier looks at how investors might predict a market decline.
What will the next bear market look like?
Some investors have short memories. The last brutal bear market — with a 58% decline for the S&P 500 from intraday peak to trough — took place between Oct. 11, 2007 and March 9, 2009.
Two political stories
Small farmers in the U.S. are being hurt by President Trump’s trade war with China. But most federal aid to the agriculture industry is being misdirected, according to Environmental Working Group.
Chris Matthews points to a threat to anyone in a broad index fund or ETF: Mounting bipartisan support for antitrust action against the largest U.S. technology companies.