Fund managers wage war against the markets every day, trying to pick stocks or bonds that will push them past their benchmark bogeys. More often than not, the markets win. But investors don’t have to lose out, too. They can choose to invest in exchange-traded funds instead. Broad ETFs can capture nearly all of a market’s returns by passively tracking a benchmark, such as Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index.
Expense ratios are rock bottom — in fact, some firms are flirting with none at all (there are some catches.)
Yet with more than 2,000 ETFs now on offer, picking a few good ones can be daunting. More than a dozen funds track versions of the S&P 500 alone. Plus, scores of ETFs aim to beat the markets by carving out certain types of stocks or bonds, or by emphasizing things such as share-price momentum—anything to give them an edge over traditional indexes.
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Whatever your goals, the portfolios below can serve as the bedrock of your investment program for years. Each basket features a broad mix of common stocks and bonds, all drawn from the Kiplinger ETF 20.
Maximum growth
Fewer stocks, more yield
Playing it safe(r)
Keeping It Simple
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