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Practical, opinionated guides on ETF investing. No fluff, no affiliate links. Just what you need to invest with confidence.
Dollar-Cost Averaging With ETFs
Most contributions are already dollar-cost averaging. The decision that moves your portfolio is where each one goes, and it can rebalance for free.
The All-Weather Portfolio in ETFs
Ray Dalio's all-weather portfolio balances risk across economic regimes. Why the design leans on bonds, what 2022 did to it, and what the packaged ETFs cost.
Switching ETFs: Is It Worth the Tax?
You found a cheaper ETF. Selling the one you own can trigger a tax bill on your gains. When the switch is worth it, and how to switch without selling.
Your Real Return Is Not What Your Broker Shows You
Your broker shows a nominal return. Fees, tax, and inflation shrink it to your real return, and how much depends on where you invest.
CoCo Bond ETFs: High Yield With a Trigger
There's no clean US ETF for AT1 CoCo bonds. You already own them inside preferred funds, and some hold far more of them than others.
Factor Investing: The Tilt That Works If You Can Hold It
Value, momentum, and quality are real return premia. Capturing them means holding a tilt through a decade of underperformance most investors abandon.
Asset Location: Why Your Two Accounts Shouldn't Match
Holding the same allocation in every account leaves money on the table. Asset location puts each asset where tax hurts least, and the rule changes by country.
Catastrophe Bond ETFs: Insurance-Linked Returns
Catastrophe bond returns turn on whether a hurricane makes landfall, which makes them a genuine diversifier. The new ETF wrapper needs scrutiny.
Core-Satellite Portfolio: How Much in Satellites?
A core-satellite ETF portfolio pairs a broad cheap core with 10-30% in satellites for factor tilts and alternatives. Satellite size matters more than picks.
Bond ETFs Explained
How bond ETFs work, the risks they carry, and how they compare to alternatives like TIP, gold, and managed futures.
How Many ETFs Should You Own?
The right number depends on how much you're investing. A practical scale from one fund at $2k to six past $100k, with the reasoning behind each tier.
Gold ETFs: The Complete Guide
Physical gold trusts, mini versions, gold miners, UCITS equivalents. What gold does in a portfolio, and how to pick the right wrapper.
ETFs to Avoid: 6 Structural Red Flags
Leveraged, YieldMax, JEPI-style covered-call, buffer ETFs: the structural traps that look attractive on paper but underperform a plain index over time.
Money Market and T-Bill ETFs: Where Cash Earns a Yield
Short-term Treasury and money market ETFs pay real yields with near-zero credit risk. What they hold, where they beat a savings account, and where they don't.
Low-Volatility ETFs: Smoother Ride, Lower Return
Low-volatility ETFs cut portfolio swings and trail the market by 2 to 4 points a year. The trade pays off in a few narrow situations.
Home Bias: Why You Need International ETFs
Investors everywhere overweight their home country. History shows why that's a risk, and how globally diversified ETFs fix it.
Understanding Expense Ratios: The Fee That Eats Your Returns
The expense ratio is the most important number on an ETF factsheet. What it is, and why a fraction of a percent costs you six figures over decades.
How Beacon Picks and Ranks ETFs
Beacon classifies every ETF by the job it does for your portfolio, then scores it on cost, size, liquidity, and track record. The full method, no black box.
What Is an ETF? (And Why It Matters)
An ETF is a basket of investments you can buy in a single trade. How they work, and where the modern ETF market hides its traps.
The 3-Fund Portfolio Explained
Three index funds. That's all you need for a diversified, low-cost portfolio that beats most professional money managers over time.
Investing to Grow Your Wealth Long-Term
Growth is the default goal for most investors. How to build a growth ETF portfolio that compounds for decades, and what to keep out of it.
Investing for Passive Income With ETFs
Dividend ETFs can pay steady income, but high yield often hides risk. Sustainable income comes from dividend growth: companies that keep raising payouts.
Why You Can't Beat the Market (And That's OK)
Decades of data show almost nobody consistently beats the market. Why that's good news for how you invest.