THE AAII JOURNAL MARCH 2023 ISSUE

COVER ARTICLE

A Look at Five Leading Alternative Investment Platforms

By Charles Rotblut, Sean Murphy, Eunice Kim, Pratham Shah, Grace Malone

A new set of investing platforms has emerged to expand individual investors’ access to asset types such as cryptocurrency, private debt, private real estate and fine art.

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Features

in Financial Planning,Insurance Products

The Truth About Annuities and Inflation

By Stan Haithcock

While there is no annuity strategy that perfectly solves for inflation, specific types of annuities can lessen its sting.

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in Trading Strategies,Options Strategies

Using a Covered Call Strategy to Generate Income

By Brian Haughey,

A covered call strategy offers investors the chance to collect dividends, generate premium income, benefit from some price appreciation in bull markets and mitigate losses in a bear market.

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in First Cut Stocks,AAII Stock Ideas

All-Stars: Stocks That Pass Multiple Screens

By Derek J. Hageman

Looking at stocks that pass multiple screening approaches can be valuable if the approaches are based upon solid financial principles and are diverse enough to capture unique yet desirable qualities.

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in AAII How-To,Sell Rules,Stock Strategies

Developing Sell Rules for Stocks Based on Your Buy Criteria

By Matt Markowski

A clearly defined process for making sell decisions prevents emotions from taking over. One method is to base your rules on the criteria used for considering a stock.

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in ETFs and Mutual Funds,Active Investing

A Checklist for Choosing Between Active and Passive Funds

By Charles Rotblut

One of the challenges for investors in ETFs and mutual funds is deciding whether to use an actively managed (“active”) or a passively managed (index) fund.

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in Portfolio Strategies,Asset Allocation,PRISM Wealth-Building Process,AAII Asset Allocation Models

Tilting AAII's Asset Allocation Models to Match Your Growth or Value Style

By John Bajkowski

A look at index mutual funds and ETFs that move outside of the neutral blended style by adding a focus on growth or value.

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in Portfolio Strategies,Transition to Retirement,Rebalancing

Rebalancing to Navigate Bear Markets and Sequence Risk

By Charles Rotblut

Periodically adjusting allocations back to intended targets lessens the magnitude of swings in a portfolio’s returns.

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in ETFs and Mutual Funds,Bonds

Diversify Tax-Exempt Interest Income With Muni National Bond Funds

By John Bajkowski

If you are in a higher tax bracket and your portfolio generates significant income from fixed-income investments such as bonds that are not held in tax-deferred accounts, then you might consider using tax-exempt income sources such as municipal bond funds.

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Notes & Opinions

in Editor's Note

Alternative Assets Aren't So Easy to Get Out Of

By Charles Rotblut

The biggest question you should ask yourself about these platforms is: Do I need alternative investments?

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in Dispatches,Stock Strategies,Dividends

Tracking Dividends Versus Buybacks

By Derek J. Hageman

Recent tracking of S&P 500 stocks shows that companies are clearly spending more on buybacks than dividends.

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in Dispatches

Early Retirement Linked to Cognitive Decline

By Sean Murphy

Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline due to a reduction in social interaction and activities requiring individuals to be mentally sharp.

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in Dispatches

No Tax Deduction Allowed on Worthless Cryptocurrency While Held

By Jack Gilleland

A loss in a cryptocurrency cannot be claimed as a deduction for tax purposes solely because the asset declined to the point of having almost no value.

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in Letters to the Editor

Letters

By AAII Staff

Members voice their opinions on a range of topics, including choosing funds, total assets versus retirement savings, technical analysis and donor-advised funds.

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in AAII Community

Split on Growth and Value Strategies? Investors Weigh In

By Jenna Brashear

In the AAII Community, we have set up special interest groups for Value Investing and Growth Investing.

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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.