ROBERT A from NC posted 2 months ago:

I never knew Warren Buffett had a "contrarian perspective"! ;=)

BARRY J from TX posted 2 months ago:

Actually Jenna, I view “expected return” on EVERY type of investment as being “AT RISK” until I (1) sell the asset(s), (2) pay the fees for your brokerage accounts, AND (3) pay the appropriate capital gains taxes. Everyone and everything in between “buying” and “selling” is an adventure similar to “Through the Looking Glass,” where denizens of the financial industry find ways to reduce your returns. My favorite “crime” is right there in plain sight. The advisor and brokers that manage your investment accounts for, say, a 2% fee charge you the 2% on the entire portfolio being managed. That means the money you earned in prior years is accruing that same 2% every year your money remains invested. EX: The money you invested in the first year 20 years ago is still being charged 2% EVERY YEAR. That's 40% in fees on the original investment. This happens to everyone who uses a FA, brokerage, or fund of any type. #1 Jack Bogle famously demonstrated how fund FEES – like these -- and “taxable events” reduced total returns by as much as 75%. Refer to "The Bogle Effect: How John Bogle and Vanguard Turned Wall Street Inside Out and Saved Investors Trillions” by Eric Balchunas and "Stay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index Revolution" by John C. Bogle. #2 A recent May 2026 Jazon Zweig article traced the “risk” of lower returns than you expect when the investments in some funds reduce “gross returns” by taxable transactions by fund managers that incurred tax liabilities. Here’s a Gift Link to the Zweig article if you are interested. https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/you-won-the-battle-on-investment-fees-youre-losing-the-war-against-taxes-6f949f3c?st=SJM8to&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink. Zweig provides a very informative table showing the “tax drag” for “Annualized returns on U.S. stocks over 30-year periods.“ #3 Do not peak at these data … unless you are prepared to cry and cuss. #4 No investment is ever “safe.” The industry’s thumb is always on the scales and very clever at picking your pocket.

G from NY posted about 1 month ago:

I like Barry's post here. It is one thing to invest funds, even to "buy and hold" them. But, Keeping them from eroding over time is the trick. I think that's what Barry is saying, above. Taxes and fees DO ADD UP. Finding a true fiduciary advisor for non-retirement accounts is also not easy. I find tracking one's cost basis for an account is important, but also not easy to do. It takes time, there are several ways it can be done, and with a busy life, just making the entries or checking the investment firm's website for information regularly can be difficult to do. But - - it is time well spent. As someone wise said, "No one will care about your money like you do!". AAII has been a great help through the years. The articles are timely, specific and data-based, usually.

BARRY J from TX posted about 1 month ago:

G, thanks for the attaboy. My brokerage statements have hundreds of what I call "micro" fees -- less than $0.49 -- for specific "services" that occurred with a specific equity or ETF that I have held for more than 1 year, i.e., are LT gains. When I call and ask someone to go over the itemization breakouts, they mumble about "upstream" fees. I ask what stream? They say that these are "pass-through" fees they are recouping after being charged to "the ledger" and have to be passed along as a "service charge." Could you get any fuzzier? Like I suggested. Go read the Bogle Book. He built Vanguard on the premise that "Another company's operating margins are my profit." When he started Vanguard as a separate company from Wellington, he left all the overhead in Wellington. That's how he made "his" profits at Vanguard. He left the overhead in Wellington. Vanguard had no fees for buying, selling, administration, etc.