Most people have heard about Vanguard, one of the largest investment companies in the world. It is mostly known for their low-cost index funds. However, you may not know that they also believe in active management which contradicts with what you often hear from John Bogle, a true legend in the world of investing, founder of The Vanguard Group, and the greatest advocate for indexing. This week, I would like to share with you some of the facts I found and what we can learn from it.

It's time for our quarterly market review. For a long-term investor who owns a globally well-diversified portfolio, reviewing your investments along with these market information once a year to make sure you are still on track achieving your financial goals is more than enough. This quarterly material is to help you reinforce the concept of diversification, and serve as a reminder that you should view daily market events from a long-term perspective and avoid making investment decisions based solely on the news.  

"Embarking on a financial plan is like sailing around the world. The voyage won’t always go to plan, and there’ll be rough seas. But the odds of reaching your destination increase greatly if you are prepared, flexible, patient, and well-advised". This is from the short article, "Sailing with the Tides", written by Jim Parker, on the last slide. It is one of the best pieces I have ever read to help people understand the benefits of a financial plan.  As I always said, not everyone needs a financial planner, but everyone should have a financial plan. Enjoy reading. 

Most people are very cautious about the price when they shop for a car, a cell phone or even groceries. Surprisingly enough, based on my experience, a lot of people don't care that much about the cost when it comes to investing. Even my father-in-law used to tell me that he didn't care about the commissions or any other type of fees as long as it could make him more money. However, the numbers will tell you that investing is no different than buying other things. The cost does matter. Most of the regular investors do not compare or do not know how to compare their investments to other similar ones with lower fees. In other words, they think they could get a higher return if they pay more fees. But without comparing, how do they know their return is the higher one? For those of you who are interested in learning the opportunity cost of your investment, you could go through our "2017 Annual Market Review" to take a look at how different investment class performed globally in 2017.  This week, I would like to share with you what costs are associated with investing, especially in mutual funds, and why those costs matter.  This article is provided by one of our strategic partner, Dimensional Fund Advisors.