If you ask most people what they think about real estate as an investment, you’ll probably hear something like this: “Real estate always goes up. It’s one of the safest ways to build wealth.” For decades, this has basically been true. Home prices have skyrocketed. People who bought homes in 2016 have seen their property…
Have you ever wondered how the sectors in the S&P 500 have performed over time? The nine major sector ETFs were created by State Street in late 1998. This article is going to show you 27 years of data across every major sector of the S&P 500. I compared each sector’s compounded annual growth rate…
You’re doing everything you were told to do growing up. You got a good job and worked your way up the corporate ladder. You save what you can. But no matter what you do, it feels like you are always one step behind. Your paycheck goes up but somehow things never get easier. Rent, groceries,…
Which bond ETFs actually grew your money – and which ones quietly eroded your purchasing power against inflation and M2 money supply growth? TL;DR – Key Takeaways In a previous analysis, I looked at fixed income performance using Portfolio Visualizer’s built-in asset class backtesting. This time, I’m using actual ETFs because that’s what most investors…
In 2013, the United States’ Debt to GDP ratio officially hit 100%. This meant that the total debt of the US was equal to its total economic output. The Federal Reserve was already several years into ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy). The Fed had cut rates to zero percent for the first time in US…
In this article, I will analyze US equity styles from the ending of the gold standard to when the United States eclipsed 100% Debt to GDP in 2012. This is an important era to study because in 1972, the United States got off of the gold standard. The United States dollar was no longer backed…
Fixed income investments are important to analyze because they are a key component of the global financial system and of individual investor’s portfolios. Financial managers typically recommend an allocation to fixed income such as bonds because they offer a guaranteed return and are supposed to protect your portfolio if stocks go into a downturn. One…
In 1995, Vanguard opened the door for the average person to access international markets, including mutual funds for Emerging Markets, International Small Caps, and International Value. This marked a turning point for retail investors. Data Note: This analysis begins in 1995 to capture a full 30-year history. Please note that investable Index Funds for Global…
The S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s 500) is a stock market index that tracks the performance of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States. When watching the news, you might hear that the “market” is up. The S&P 500 is the market. It is also known as a benchmark. The S&P 500…
For decades, traditional investing advice has told people to diversify internationally. The idea sounds smart on the surface. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. But what does the actual data say? This article will analyze how US and international stocks have performed since 1986 (the first year standardized international market data became…