Short Takes: Portfolio Fees and more

In a week of travel and meetings for 10 hours a day, I managed two posts:

The Little Book of Behavioral Investing

Who Owns the Money in a Relationship?

Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

Preet Banerjee does some detailed calculations to show how a lifetime of portfolios fees affect retirement income. He gives a clearly designed spreadsheet so that you can adjust the assumptions for your situation.

Tom Bradley at Steadyhand found a new fund (not a Steadyhand fund) that charges a management fee not based on the usual percentage of investor capital but on the total amount of leveraged assets. So, if the fund has $600 million in investor assets and borrows $200 million more for leverage, the management fee is a percentage of the $800 million total. This is a pretty strong conflict of interest.

Phil DeMuth at Forbes explains what’s going on when you get a pitch for active fund management. The appeal to your greed is strong.

Jonathan Chevreau reports that iShares is dropping the fees on several of its ETFs. This is good news for investors. It’s not likely to entice me away from Vanguard, but any fee reductions are investor-friendly.

James Cowan at Canadian Business calls for a ban on unpaid internships.

The Blunt Bean Counter gives his take on what the relationship between your investment advisor and accountant should look like. He makes it clear that they don’t always work in unison.

Mr. Money Mustache makes a strong pitch for metal rooves. They’re less expensive than I thought they would be.

Big Cajun Man doesn’t think much of Disability Tax Credit advisors. Just the picture of the Big Cajun Man showing disapproval is worth the price of admission.

My Own Advisor gives us his takeaways from Warren Buffett’s latest letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.