Commentary

Because I work at Morningstar, a lot of family and friends ask me to make recommendations for their 401(k) plans. I'm always glad to help, of course. After all, I want those that I care about to make good choices for themselves, financially and otherwise. I also think of it as an opportunity to step into the shoes of a more typical investor and see what they're up against.

If my friend Oscar's experience is any indication, many investors face a bewildering number of choices in their 401(k) lineups. Oscar recently asked me to help him pick investments for his first 401(k) plan, and he was overwhelmed. I couldn't really blame him. His employer gave him a long list of funds to choose from--36 in all--that would have taken an awful lot of time and effort to research, even for experienced folks like me. Not only did Oscar … Full Story

Six months ago I wrote a piece on otherwise attractive fixed-income funds that don't get our endorsement because their prices aren't right. I've identified four more funds that meet that description, which I'll discuss in more detail below.

Just as a follow-up item on that article, Dreyfus has plans to merge Dreyfus Premier High Income into a cheaper fund, which is encouraging. That step will also mean that subadvisor Shenkman Capital Management will no longer be at the controls, though, so in a sense that's a step forward and a step back for Premier High Income shareholders. Costs have not declined substantively for the other funds that I wrote about in February.

BlackRock International Bond
BlackRock does most things right. The firm's strategies are disciplined, and it knows th… Full Story