Here's another regret they might have--not having lived while they're young. The idea that all meals out with friends and family--moments you may treasure for the rest of your life--are "mindless" or that buying coffee to say study for a test or just for the sheer pleasure of being alive and enjoying a coffee is always a waste sounds like the typical view you hear from these financial planning types. They're busy wagging their fingers at kids when in fact young people are making less money today in low-end jobs on an inflation-adjusted basis than they did thirty or forty years ago in many states. It also makes the assumption that every young person will live to retirement age when in fact they won't. It's a matter of achieving balance--enjoying some daily pleasures--and saving. It's also a matter of paying young people appropriately.

FYI: Millennials, here’s one way to avoid a regret that’s plagued people for generations: Start saving for retirement immediately.
Nearly 3 out of 4 adults have financial regrets, with not saving enough for retirement sitting at the top of that gloomy list at 22%, according to a Bankrate survey released Tuesda
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/young-people-should-put-down-their-smartphones-step-away-from-the-avocado-toast-and-do-this-2017-05-23/print

FYI: This isn’t my forecast. But it’s a good reminder that you should ignore all such forecasts. And it’s a good example of why I keep a file of forecasts—the financial media almost never hold forecasters accountable because that would ruin the game, and people would cease to “tune in.”
Regards,
Ted
http://www.etf.com/sections/index-investor-corner/swedroe-forecasters-not-held-accountable?nopaging=1

While Bloomberg called her a "seasoned financial reporter", in her WSJ article Fuller states up front that "I don’t have a finance beat".
Her WSJ bio talks about her work process (with spreadsheets and databases), but virtually nothing about domain (subject area) expertise, i.e. her beats. It only says that she began by working on stories "related to education data" and that she reports on data. Nothing I see there about data acquisition skills, just data analysis and graphing.

http://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/32897/what-s-my-investing-fee-a-frustrating-quest-how-to-get-a-straight-answer
(No follow up discussion, just Ted's links including link to original WSJ article.)
I agree that the article was lame. More column inches to fill. Fuller complained that she couldn't get an "all in" figure (including underlying fund fees) from her adviser. I guess looking up these figures (as David suggested), computing a dollar-weighted average, and adding them to 0.85% exceeded her ability as a specialist in data analysis.
The Bloomberg piece is disingenuous. It states that the fees are "quasi" hidden (e.g. in plain sight if one looks at prospectuses rather than at brokerage statements). Yet it accepts without question that even this "hiding" is too much for a professional to deal with: "If even a seasoned financial reporter has to spend hours just to find out the price that she’s paying ..."

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1081400/000108140017001077/smallcompanygrowthPROsupp.htm
497 1 smallcompanygrowthPROsupp.htm SMALL COMPANY GROWTH FUND SUPPLEMENT
SUPPLEMENT TO THE PROSPECTUSES
and SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES
OF WELLS FARGO EQUITY GATEWAY FUNDS
Wells Fargo Small Company Growth Fund(the “Fund”)
Effective July 31, 2017, the Fund is closed to most new investors. For further information, please see the section entitled "Additional Purchase and Redemption Information" in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC reserves the right to reject any purchase order into the Fund if it believes that acceptance of such order would interfere with its ability to effectively manage the Fund.
May 18, 2017 EGIT057/P904SP
OR
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1081400/000108140017001078/smallcompanygrowthSAIsupp.htm
497 1 smallcompanygrowthSAIsupp.htm SMALL COMPANY GROWTH FUND SAI SUPPLEMENT
SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (“SAI”)
OF
WELLS FARGO EQUITY GATEWAY FUNDS
Effective at the close of business on July 31, 2017, the following information is added to the section titled “ADDITIONAL PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION INFORMATION – Investors Eligible to Purchase Closed Funds” in the SAI.
All classes of the Small Company Growth Fund (the “Closed Fund”) are closed to new investors, except in connection with the closing of a reorganization or as outlined below. Additional investments will not be accepted in the Closed Fund unless the investment falls within one of the below referenced categories. If you believe you are eligible to purchase shares of the Closed Fund, Funds Management may require you to provide appropriate proof of eligibility. Funds Management reserves the right to reject any purchase order into the Closed Fund if it believes that acceptance of such order would interfere with its ability to effectively manage the Closed Fund.
Existing Shareholders. You may continue to purchase shares of the Closed Fund if:
You are an existing shareholder of the Closed Fund (either directly or through a financial intermediary), with an open and funded account, and you wish to:
add to your existing account through the purchase of additional shares of the Closed Fund, including the reinvestment of dividends and cash distributions from shares owned in the Closed Fund; or
open a new account that is registered in your name or has the same primary taxpayer identification or social security number (this includes accounts where you serve as custodian, such as UGMA/UTMA accounts). Please note: Selling agents who transact in the Closed Fund through an omnibus account are not permitted to purchase shares of the Closed Fund on behalf of clients that do not currently own shares of the Closed Fund.
You are the beneficiary of shares of the Closed Fund (i.e., through an IRA or transfer on death account) or are the recipient of shares of the Closed Fund through a transfer and wish to utilize the proceeds of such account to open up a new account in your name in the Closed Fund.
You sponsor a retirement plan, benefit plan or retirement plan platform (collectively, “Retirement Plans”) that currently offers the Closed Fund as an investment option. Each such Retirement Plan may add new participants, and the sponsor may also offer the Closed Fund as an investment option in other retirement or benefit plans offered by the same company, its subsidiaries and affiliates.
New Investors. Certain new investors who meet the conditions and/or criteria outlined below may qualify to purchase the Fund:
New Retirement Plans;
For centrally managed (home office) model portfolios, new accounts may be opened, and additional investment for current accounts may be made, in the Closed Fund if they are made through existing fee-based investment products and/or existing mutual fund wrap programs (e.g. through a broker, dealer, private bank and trust company or consultant) that currently use the Closed Fund; however, new model portfolios introduced in existing products and platforms must be preapproved by Funds Management;
Separately managed account clients of, or investors in a pooled vehicle advised by, the Closed Fund’s sub-adviser and whose assets are managed by the sub-adviser in a style similar to that of the Closed Fund (either presently or within the last 60 days of their request to open a new account) are allowed to open a new account;
Registered investment advisers who currently utilize the Closed Fund in their asset allocation programs will be able to open new accounts and/or continue to invest in the Closed Fund;
Private bank and trust platforms that currently offer shares of the Closed Fund are eligible to add new accounts if approved by Funds Management;
Non-centrally managed discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio programs that currently offer shares of the Closed Fund or share the same operational infrastructure as programs that currently offer shares of the Closed Fund if approved by Funds Management; and
Funds of Funds advised by Funds Management may purchase shares of the Closed Fund.
May 18, 2017

What an interesting story. Thanks. That fifo override thing is wild.
I do not use an adviser anywhere.
I like ML a lot and like Fido a lot. I was just pretty duh about what I was seeing in the columns without drilldown, and I even posted here about how lamely I was doing w PDI from having skipped the initial reinvestment.
ML is also trying to catch up and compete with all of the others. Their yodlee aggregator thing (My Financial Picture), which I find extremely handy in retirement, is MUCH more up to date and supple and hence accurate, compared w Fido's identical FullView. Also more reliable in its intercourse w other institutions.
The Fido people I complained to about FV asked me to send screenshots of discrepancies, as where it shows a Fido account w one total and right next to it is the actual account with the more recent total. I did this several times and eventually they said, Oh, yeah, right, there is a lag in the updating, sure, we knew that.
ML's MFP is up-to-date.
I also pay no commissions at ML for any etfs, not the case at all at Fido.

FYI: (Click On Article Title At Top Of Google Search)
Banks and other financial stocks took off to the upside after the November election, but their performance so far this year has been disappointing. The KBW Bank Index is up less than 1% year to date, compared to a 7% gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index—while bank exchange-traded funds are actually down a fraction of a percent.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/#q=+Banks+Still+Look+Like+a+Good+Investment+

FYI: Researching my upcoming weekly column for The Wall Street Journal reminded me of the mania for investment trusts in the late 1920s, which I had first written about more than 20 years ago. Here’s a look back at that early article, which — despite its ludicrously wrong call on Berkshire Hathaway toward the end — still isn’t a bad survey of the long history of fads and crazes in the financial markets.
Regards,
Ted
http://jasonzweig.com/a-short-history-of-folly/

FYI: -VanEck is today celebrating the one year anniversary of the launch of its VanEck NDR Managed Allocation Fund (the “Fund”, Class A ticker NDRMX).
The Fund was developed by VanEck in partnership with Ned Davis Research (NDR), one of the world’s leading researchers of the indicators that drive financial markets. Taking a tactical approach to asset allocation, the Fund responds to changing market conditions by allocating among global stocks and U.S. fixed income (using exchange traded products), and can also raise significant cash in order to limit drawdowns during extreme market events.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005205/en
M* Snapshot: NDRMX:
http://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/ndrmx/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot NDRMX:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/ndrmx

@LewisBraham. Index investing IS momentum investing. However, we are not supposed to do momentum investing, because it is hard to time the market movements. However, index fund have to be held forever. Go figure.
Please don't buy FANG stocks because they go up. Buy an index funds which is heavily in FANG stocks which will keep buying them for you as they go up. But wait, buy the index funds so FANg stocks go up. No, wait...
Don't use technical analysis to buy markets that go up. That you see is very hard to do. Because you have to figure out when to sell. With index funds you never have to do that. Bear markets are so much easier to ride out when you are indexing because you are paying low ERs. And by the way Financial Advisors will charge you 1% and explain this to you very well.

Yeah. Investors are stupid. Financial Advisors on the other hand are super intelligent.

FYI: “Wow,” you say, “Your financial advisor has a really nice car.” Your friend smiles. She knows what’s coming next.
“I guess you help make those massive car payments.” She just smiles again.
She invests in actively managed mutual funds. No matter what you say, she won’t fire her advisor and switch to low-cost index funds. You try all kinds of logic. But logic isn’t working.
Regards,
Ted
https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/cant-convince-your-friend-to-invest-with-index-funds-logic-might-not-work

Macron won, 2-1. Holy landslides, Batman. When I started investing, (2002) I stayed away from Europe. Old money. Dead money. Asia was charging ahead. I owned Matthews, back then. The Financial Crash caused by the criminal banksters struck the periphery hard: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece. Italy, too. And there are still systemic issues to be dealt with ... Was Ireland able to climb out of crisis sooner than the others--- via a new Austerity--- because it is smaller and more homogeneous? I just don't know. Lots of ANGRY people, when suddenly, WATER became a metered commodity. I lived in a town here in the States years ago, at the bottom of the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia below Wheeling, where even in 1992, water was not metered.
My holding in PRESX about 18 months or 2 years ago (TRP Europe) went nowhere, at break-neck speed. I guess I missed the sudden upsurge on the heels of easing by the ECB. (Draghi.) I dumped it. Currently, my PRIDX is doing much better. Its portfolio is pretty evenly split between Europe and Asia. A smattering in Latin America (4%.) Is the PRIDX fund Manager just better at stock selection than the PRESX guy, with regard to the EU portion of holdings? Of course it may be that Asian holdings doing so well today may serve to cancel-out any EU under-performance within the fund. Within the overall portfolio, PRIDX holds 15% in GB, and 28% in DEVELOPED Europe. I'm just thinking out loud--- so to speak.
What I'm wondering is: just how un-dead has the EU become? Investing strictly in Europe got me nowhere, 2 years ago..... I don't think I'd own a dedicated-Europe fund again, anyhow, but since I own PRIDX now, I'm simply wondering...

FYI: The Utilities sector ranks ninth out of the ten sectors as detailed in our 2Q17 Sector Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report.
Regards,
Ted
http://lipperalpha.financial.thomsonreuters.com/2017/05/utilities-sector-2q17-best-and-worst/?utm_campaign=Newsletter_LipperAlphaInsight_FundInsightsWeeklyUpdate&utm_content=Newsletters_FundsInsightWeekly_09May2017&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

AKREX shows as only 37% mid-cap on Morningstar. I have owned both but of the two only in BUFTX as of now. I don't know how it can be said that AKREX out performs BUFTX. It depends on what sectors you want to be stronger in. AKREX is heavy financial, and BUFTX more into tech and health. Don't know how much it matters in the long run, as they run neck and neck.

Many brokerages have improved significantly in the past decade or so. These days it seems to be (with a few exceptions) a choice between adequate, good, and really good. I put Schwab in that latter category.
Though I don't use Schwab much, I have been with them for many years - I even have an old "No annual fee - free for life" IRA there. (When's the last time you saw an IRA account with an annual fee?)
As others have said, they've got good execution, don't bother you (maybe that's because I don't have enough invested with them), a good selection of NTF funds. They seem pretty fast in making newly load-waived funds available NTF.
For me, the biggest plus, outside of the high quality service, is the rebate ATM card that expatsp mentioned. What wasn't mentioned was that not only does Schwab rebate the ATM fees, but it also eats the 1% foreign exchange fee imposed by the network (VISA/MC) when you use the card abroad.
A small plus is that Schwab bank is a real bank. That matters in a few situations where other financial institutions only allow EFT linking to a real bank. (Sometimes you can't link a third party to a Fidelity account, since Fidelity doesn't run a bank.) Be aware though that virtually no Schwab branches are Schwab bank branches. I don't know if this list is accurate, but it shows just 11 bank branches:
https://www.branchspot.com/charles-schwab-bank/
The biggest minus for me is that Schwab doesn't seem to have a backdoor like Fidelity where you can buy shares of a TF without paying a large fee (here, $76) per purchase.
Finally, since Vanguard Brokerage Services was mentioned - it's true that they offer fewer funds, but they seem to sometimes offer institutional class shares with lower mins than Schwab or Fidelity. Notably PIMCo ($25K vs. $100K at Schwab/Fidelity.)

FYI: This is one of the most popular questions in financial media. Why? Because viewers are said to love nothing more than a prediction involving a precise level on a specific date.
Regards,
Ted
https://pensionpartners.com/the-difference-between-a-prediction-and-a-probability/

Hi Guys,
Today, I came across an article that discussed Occam's Razor. I believe that simple is always better than complex when options exist. Here is a Link to that article:
https://www.farnamstreetblog.com
I expected that the article would investigate Occam's Razor's application to investing. I was wrong. However, I did recall earlier articles that did address its application to the investment world. A quick web search uncovered the following piece by Rick Ferri. Here is the Link to the Ferri work:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2013/03/07/occams-razor-on-investing/#c1ae17e58ab2
Please give it a read. It concludes with a useful observation.: "index funds has a higher probability for reaching your financial goals." Wise words!
The emphasis is on "probability". There are no certainties when investing. We operate in a world of uncertainties so the key is to select the option with the highest expected return. I'm using expected return as the probability of a successful outcome times it's likely payoff.
Enjoy the references and good luck.
ADDED THOUGHT: Since we are talking probabilities, we benefit greatly from diversification. It's prudent policy to not bet too much on anything. Make many (like 10 or more) uncorrelated bets.”
Best Regards

Investing and making the right decision with respect to risk-return is hard work. Many financial magazines such as Kiplinger, Money and others try to over-simplify these matters. At time Barrons is also guilty of that in their annual round table discussion.