I will devote this column and the next two to some of the retreat's highlights and will come back to them from time to time. I will start with a pretty basic idea. Stocks historically provide the higher returns but with higher volatility and therefore higher potential for short-term loss. Therefore, it makes no sense to incur the costs of actively buying and selling stocks or to pay an annual fee to an active mutual fund manager to try to beat the market. By buying and holding, you also avoid the capital gains taxes that active traders frequently must pay.
Passive portfolios are lower cost and more tax efficient.
Or again, you may decide to have all of it actively managed. Next week, we'll get into different active strategies and their pros and cons. Personal finance columnist Humberto Cruz has been called everything from RoboSaver to tightwad. Let us hear from you.