The Best Of 2023: Most Popular Articles Covering Retirement, Treasuries & Dividends
These are the articles that resonated the best with investors over the past 12 months!
As we prepare to flip the calendars and plow forward into the new year, it's time to take one last opportunity to review the year that just passed.
If your portfolio was heavily tilted towards the "magnificent 7" stocks in 2023, you probably did very well. If you rode out the volatility in Treasuries, you still managed to produce a reasonable return. Maybe you just sat on the sidelines and enjoyed the steady 5% yields being offered by risk-free Treasury bills.
No matter where you put your money in 2023, odds are high that you saw positive returns, maybe significantly positive returns. Next week we'll do a reset and start focusing on what the next 12 months have in store, but for now, we can enjoy what the past year has brought us.
For readers of this site in 2023, their interests went far beyond just the Nasdaq 100 and the magnificent 7. We discussed dividend income strategies pretty heavily even though they lagged the S&P 500 for much of the year. Retirement investing was another hot topic whether it was those maintaining a longer-term perspective or those living in retirement. High yield, Vanguard, portfolio strategies, Treasuries. We covered it all in 2023.
With that in mind, here are some of the most popular articles that we published in 2023.
A Simple 2-ETF "Couch Potato" Portfolio For Dividend Investors
Link ==> HERE
The concept behind this one was very simple. A lot of investors overdo it on the number of ETFs they own and the amount of inadvertent overlap they have in their portfolios. This article tries to bring it back to the basic principle of simplicity. You can own a fully diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds by holding just two low-cost ETFs.
Why "VT And Chill" Is Probably The Best ETF Investing Strategy Out There
Link ==> HERE
This has a similar concept to the article above. Vanguard is one of the ETF industry giants thanks to its roster of broadly diversified strategies and ultra low-cost fees. The idea here is that investors are probably better off doing two simple things: 1) buying VT to own the entire world equity market and 2) just hold it. It's one of the simplest and most effective strategies out there!
How To Achieve Maximum Diversification With Just 4 ETFs At A 0.08% Average Expense Ratio
Link ==> HERE
You might be sensing a theme here! Choosing ETFs with ultra low expense ratios is the most effective way of improving the performance of your portfolio. It's the one thing that investors can control and lower fees mean more money in your pocket. This article goes beyond just the standard stock/bond mix to add real estate and precious metals to the equation. A little more diversity that can still be had on the cheap.
An Income ETF That Yields 8% And Hedges Against Market Crashes
Link ==> HERE
The income environment improved substantially for investors in 2023. The path to higher yields was obviously painful, but once yields topped out, investors had numerous high yield opportunities at their fingertips. ETFs that used covered call strategies proved to be very popular as yields started drifting into the double digits. This ETF provides some downside protection on top of it.
Retirement Strategy: 4 ETFs For Adding A 10% Yield To Your Portfolio
Link ==> HERE
Retirement portfolios should have a foundation of broadly diversified, low-cost ETFs, but that doesn't mean you can't augment them with some home run swings in smaller chunks. Funds with 10% yields were surprisingly easy to find in 2023 and some of them pair pretty nicely with a core retirement portfolio.
There Is An Alternative: If The Treasury Will Pay You 4-5% On T-Bills, You Should Take It!
Link ==> HERE
In my opinion, the biggest story in the fixed income market in 2023 was the high yields being offered by Treasury bills. These are securities that had literally been yielding nothing for years. Once the Fed hit the gas on its rate hiking cycle, however, T-bill yields took off. They've risen high enough that not only are they a very viable asset class along with stocks and bonds again, it gives investors an option for just sitting on the sideline while making money!
Income Strategy: Fixed Income Buy-Write ETFs From iShares Yielding 20%
Link ==> HERE
Covered call strategies overlaid on top of equities have been around for a while in the ETF market. BlackRock decided to launch of suite of funds that used the concept on bonds. They come with the same drawbacks as equity covered call ETFs, particularly that they limit a lot of share price upside. The ETFs, however, have proven very interesting because they've consistently yielded 20% annualized over their lifetime.
The Power Of Dividends: A Diversified 5-ETF Portfolio For All Investors
Link ==> HERE
As mentioned earlier, dividend stocks didn't have a particularly good year on a relative basis, but they always make a good foundational piece in portfolios. Like everything else, diversification matters here too. In this article, I provide high quality ETF options in 5 different themes - total dividends, dividend growth, dividend quality, high yield and multi-factor.
VTI vs. VOO: Which Low Cost U.S. Equity ETF Is Better?
Link ==> HERE
VTI and VOO are two of the four largest ETFs in the marketplace. One covers the S&P 500 while the other invests in the total U.S. equity market. They both make up a core piece of many portfolio, but is there an advantage that one fund has over the other? This article tries to answer that.
The QQQ Rebalance Is Complete! Here's What The Nasdaq 100 ETF Looks Like Now
Link ==> HERE
This was a popular topic at the time, albeit one that was relatively short-lived. QQQ would end up taking on a different look after the Nasdaq 100 decided to do a "special rebalance" to address the top-heaviness of the index. The mega-cap names, including Apple, Microsoft and Tesla, all saw their weightings reduced, although it still remains heavily tilted towards the magnificent 7.
The Ultimate Guide To Dividend ETF Investing
Link ==> HERE
This is one of my biggest undertakings on this site - a 16-part guide to dividend ETF investing that covers everything from how to choose a fund, how to pair them up with other funds and the key mistakes to avoid. Links to every one of these subtopics is included here.