by Doug West

The meltdown on Wall Street has taught us all many lessons.

“We Better Learn To Make Our Own Investment Decisions -And Not Let Brokers Make Choices For Us!”

This is a basic fact that we have been teaching for many years now. Most investors either blindly throw money at the market or let a broker do it for them. With just a little time and effort, you can learn to direct your investment accounts and retirement funds on your own.

In this article we want to point you in the right direction, and give you a few crisis tips too.

ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are an excellent alternative to mutual funds as an investment vehicle for your retirement or other accounts.

There are ETFs that cover every sector of the market. ETFs offer many advantages over mutual funds. Here are a few:

* Tax Advantages - ETFs seldom sell any equity …

The book, The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines by Christopher L. Jones, is a very comprehensive book which covers risk versus rewards, past performance versus future expected returns, market timing versus long term investing, and investing in individual stocks versus investing in mutual funds. He also discusses diversification, fees and expenses, and the tax consequences of investing. All of his recommendations are backed up with extensive research and presented in an easy-to-understand manner. The following is an excerpt from his book about retirement investing: An Unnecessary Gamble The Biggest Mistake in Retirement Investing By Christopher L. Jones Author of The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines One of the most common mistakes made in the retirement investing world, particularly among 401(k) participants, is over-concentration in an employer's stock. In an analysis of more ...