Short Takes: International ETF Tracking Error, Core-and-Explore, and more

Here are my posts for this week:

Debating What Income Level is Safe in Retirement

The Stock Picker’s Checklist

Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

Canadian Couch Potato explains some of the sources of tracking error in international ETFs.

Boomer and Echo explain the problems with running a core-and-explore portfolio. Spoiler: most investors can expect lower returns if they add an explore part of their portfolio.

The Blunt Bean Counter explains some of the capital gains rules that apply at your death. The main catch is that your can end up owing capital gains taxes even if nothing is sold.

Andrew Hallam reviews Larry Swedroe’s latest book, The Incredible Shrinking Alpha.

InsureEye has a very interesting list of 16 factors that affect your home insurance costs. The table layout of the factors makes it easy to digest the information. One that caught my eye was whether you run a business out of your home. I know several people who do this but don’t tell their insurance company. This can lead to not being covered after a fire or other calamity. My own experience with telling my home insurance company about the business I ran from home was very negative. Even though all I used was a computer and never had clients in my home, they dropped me, and I couldn’t find any other insurance company to cover me.

Preet Banerjee has been working on a rent vs. buy calculator. He still considers it to be a beta version that may have problems, and he’s looking for expert feedback.

My Own Advisor made a start at listing his spending needs in retirement. He certainly drew a lot of comments.

Big Cajun Man is running a TurboTax giveaway.