Earn More (Sleep Better): The Index Fund Solution
Although sometimes derided as "plain vanilla" investments when more exotic financial flavors are the rage, mutual funds designed to mirror precisely the performance of a particular index like the Standard & Poor's 500--called, appropriately enough, index mutual funds--have performed solidly if not spectacularly ever since they were first made available to the public in 1976. InEarn More, Sleep Better: Investing with Index Funds, however, advertising executive Richard E. Evans and Princeton economics professor Burton G. Malkiel argue that these vehicles actually outperform most actively managed funds over time and should therefore be strongly considered by anyone who seeks investments with a simple foundation, low operating costs, and a profitable track record. "It is certainly true that the index-fund investor gives up the chance of boasting to one's golfing partners about the fantastic gains made by picking stock-market winners," they write. "But experience conclusively shows that index-fund buyers obtain results exceeding those of the typical fund managers." The book is divided into two parts: it first compares index and managed funds and discusses development of a relevant financial plan; its second explains how to create and monitor just such a portfolio in order to meet one's individual needs optimally.--Howard Rothman