THE AAII JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2017 ISSUE

COVER ARTICLE

Technology Takes Over the Top-Performing ETF List

Two semiconductor funds help put technology on top, though last year’s dominant sector, health care, maintained a presence.

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Features

in Computerized Investing,Advisers

Q2 2017 Robo Report Sees More Hybrid Advice Models

By Ken Schapiro

The founder of BackEnd Benchmarking, which publishes The Robo Report, discusses the performance and latest trends in robo-advisory services as of the second quarter of 2017.

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in Computerized Investing

Updating Data in Excel With XLQ Plug-In

By Robert Baran

An introduction to using the XLQ utility to pull current and historical data into your Excel spreadsheets.

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in Computerized Investing

Updating Data in Excel With XLQ Plug-In

By Robert Baran

An introduction to using the XLQ utility to pull current and historical data into your Excel spreadsheets.

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in Investing Gurus,First Cut Stocks

Expanding the Driehaus Growth and Momentum Screen

By John Bajkowski

The size and earnings surprise requirements on this growth and momentum screen were loosened to identify more stocks with potential upside.

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in Portfolio Strategies,Tax Strategies

Minimizing Taxes With Asset Allocation

By Stephen E. Wilcox

Strategically taking into consideration both tax laws and the tax-efficiency of an investment will maximize aftertax returns.

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in Investor Professor

Reverse Mortgages

By Charles Rotblut

An overview of how reverse mortgages work and their costs, plus explanations of key terms.

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in Portfolio Strategies,Mutual Funds,Exchange-Traded Funds,Retirement Planning

The Impact of Expense Ratios on Retirement Income

By Craig Israelsen

Simply lowering investment expenses on a $1 million portfolio by 0.01% boosts annual portfolio income by more than $200 per year.

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in Portfolio Strategies

Using Reverse Mortgages to Mitigate Periods of Poor Returns

By Wade Pfau

A coordinated strategy of using reverse mortgages can both support higher withdrawal rates and allow for a smaller allocation to cash.

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Notes & Opinions

in Editor's Note

Editor's Note

By Charles Rotblut

Until a few years ago, reverse mortgages held a negative connotation in my mind. Based on new thinking, I now believe they are worth considering as part of an overall retirement strategy.

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Graphs and paperwork dealing with required minimum distributions (RMDs)

in Dispatches,Retired Investor

When Is the Best Time to Take Your RMDs?

By Jenna Brashear

To decide when to take your required minimum distribution (RMD), you’ll need to understand the pros and cons of making RMD withdrawals earlier or later in the year.

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in Dispatches

Economic and Market Conditions Influence Stock Splits

On average, stock splits are more likely to be announced during bull markets than bear markets. More splits also occur during expansionary periods than during recessionary periods.

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in Dispatches

Equity Allocations in 401(k) Plans Exceed Pre-Financial Crisis Levels

Ninety-one percent of workers had exposure to equities, compared to 87% in 2007. Furthermore, equities accounted for more than 80% of portfolio allocations for 48% of plan participants.

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in Dispatches

The Factors Driving Dividend Policy

An analysis of global dividend policies attributed the rationale for companies to pay and raise their dividends to many factors, including communicating information, so-called “agency costs,” tax policy and a company’s maturation.

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in Letters to the Editor

Letters

By AAII Staff

Comments from members on recent articles, including IRA beneficiary rules, dividend yield substitution and ETF changes made to the Model Fund Portfolio.

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Expand to Read More

The AAII Journal, a leading investment publication, provides readers with a continuing stream of insights and ideas that focus on how you can improve your investment results. Unlike many investment magazines, ours is completely unbiased, educational and contains no advertising.

AAII has published this prestigious financial journal every month for more than 40 years. Members receive it for free and have access to thousands of evergreen articles online so they can reference information and strategies for previous market situations with a few clicks of the mouse.

Our stock journal helps individual investors manage their portfolios, build sound investment strategies and navigate all types of financial conditions. Articles range from optimizing target-date fund portfolios to retirement account withdrawal strategies and analysis on robo-advisor performance.

The magazine also has recurring features our members find invaluable. Every quarter, we dissect our model stock portfolio and provide updates to its holdings and performance. This analysis helps individual investors manage small-cap value investments.

We also offer an annual tax guide in our financial magazine. This detailed investment magazine issue covers many details that individual investors need to consider when filing their taxes. It keeps readers updated on any recent changes to tax laws and provisions and provides a handy guide to tax implications of personal investments to cut through any tax filing confusion.

Another annual feature covers ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and mutual funds. This edition helps individual investors understand what to look for when investing in funds. Online, we accompany those articles with sortable tables so that members have an interactive component to their investment research. This helps individual investors plan their portfolios and invest with confidence.

Other regular features in the AAII Journal include financial planning, stock ideas and investor professor. Financial planning articles walk investors through the process and difficulties of crafting strategies for creating wealth regardless of age. They also cover difficult situations, such as estate planning, and helpful advice for getting kids and grandchildren interested in investing.

Stock ideas, as the name implies, give readers a peek at new screens and the stocks that pass them. This part of our investing magazine helps readers identify new opportunities in the markets, flagged by a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Because we all, as investors, need ideas, this remains one of the most popular categories.

Investor professor helps readers invest with knowledge and confidence. It deals with contingencies, such as “What happens to your investment if a company goes bankrupt?” and gives actionable advice on what resources you should use when considering a new broker. Our readers enjoy this section because of its practicality and enduring tips.

Frequent internal contributors include president John Bajkowski; AAII Journal editor and vice president Charles Rotblut; Stock Superstars Report lead analyst Wayne A. Thorp; and Dividend Investing editor Derek Hageman. Together, these internal contributors have nearly a century of market wisdom and research, which they share with clear and concise prose to help individual investors improve their knowledge and portfolios.

The AAII Journal also includes frequent guest contributions from the financial and economic space. Articles from outside industry experts differentiate our financial magazine from others and provide additional points of view for our readers. Previous guest authors have included John C. Bogle, founder of Vanguard; Jay Clayton, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Charles Schwab; and Nobel laureate and Yale professor Robert Shiller.

We hope you’ll enjoy our articles and, if you’re not a member, consider joining the Association so you can get our prestigious magazine sent to your door every month.