Brian Baker, CFA, covers investing and retirement for Bankrate. He previously worked in equity research at Diamond Hill Capital Management and is a CFA Charterholder. His work has appeared online in various publications including MarketWatch, Fortune, the Omaha World-Herald, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Detroit News, MSN and Yahoo Finance. He also serves on the Investment Task Force for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
Prior to joining Bankrate, he covered mergers and acquisitions for MLex Market Insight in Washington, D.C. Baker is passionate about helping people make sense of complicated financial topics so that they can better plan for their financial futures.
Readers can rely on his articles to learn more about a variety of investing topics such as how to start investing, investing through mutual funds, when to sell a stock and how investors can manage their emotions.
Baker’s passion for investing developed in college after reading about the success of long-term investors like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.
Investing can be intimidating, but following some basic principles can put you on the path to achieving your financial goals.
— Brian Baker, CFA
The robo-advisor combines low-cost exchange-traded funds with an option to avoid management fees (though it’s probably a better idea not to skip them.) Low minimums and well-diversified portfolios round out the list of top features.
Fidelity Go offers core robo-advisor features (portfolio management, rebalancing) and combines them with Fidelity’s investor-friendly reputation. So you’ll get funds with no fees and excellent customer service at any hour of the day.
E-Trade Core Portfolios offers a reasonably priced robo-advisor with some of the lowest-cost portfolios in the industry, making it a good fit for those looking to keep a lid on their costs.
Acorns offers a useful app for managing many aspects of your financial life, from basic spending to saving with its “round-up” feature to investing in a diversified portfolio of securities.
With a well-developed educational section, Stash is an easy-to-use pick for those just getting started on their saving-and-investing journey.
J.P. Morgan’s Self-Directed Investing option is a solid choice for investors looking for a broker that handles the basics well.
Many top stocks deliver solid returns year after year. Below are the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 year to date.
Signs of a financial advisor scam and how to avoid them.
