Are You Making These 5 Common Portfolio Mistakes?

My portfolio makeovers provide a bird’s-eye view of real people’s financial lives: their goals, their worries, and their pain points. It gives me the [Morningstar](?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_improvingfinances&utm_content=54323&elqTrackId=edd8ed9a46554d629977a08b3e8bb52d&elq=147eb94928c1444da920a43648cf7d32&elqaid=54323&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27592) [Improving Your Finances] Improving Your Finances with [Christine Benz]( [Christine Benz] [Are You Making These 5 Common Portfolio Mistakes?]( My [portfolio makeovers]( provide a bird’s-eye view of real people’s financial lives: their goals, their worries, and their pain points. It gives me the chance to interact with real people (my favorite part of the project), and it also affords me a close look at their holdings and their plans. In other words, I get to do a bit of snooping on the way to improving their portfolios. It definitely helps me figure out what topics I should work on in the future. In my years of conducting these portfolio makeovers, I’ve observed that investors get a lot more right than they get wrong. They do their homework, and they populate their portfolios with low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. They tend to be pretty hands-off, and if they delve into niche investments, they usually limit them to a small share of their portfolios. Of course, I wouldn’t rule out that Morningstar.com readers are more sophisticated than most investors, but I’d push back on the idea of the individual investors as dumb-money performance-chasers. It’s not just a caricature; I think it’s wrong. At the same time, there are some issues that I see—and address—again and again in the course of these makeovers. Here are some of the most common ones. [Find Out Now]( Share: [facebook]( [twitter]( [linkedin]( ADVERTISEMENT [media]( [media] [Ed Slott: How Rules on Eligible Designated Beneficiaries Changed for Inherited IRAs]( Making sense of what’s new in 2024. [Watch Now]( [Should Your Retirement Withdrawals Mirror RMDs?]( Like all variable strategies, a required minimum distribution system entails trade-offs. [Read More]( [Greg McBride: ‘Successful Saving Is All About the Habit’]( The chief financial analyst for Bankrate discusses the state of the economy and the outlook for interest rates, as well as the many savings products that are available today. [Listen Today]( [4 Financial Tasks You Shouldn’t Put Off]( How to make sure these common financial ‘pain points’ don’t imperil your plan. [See Tasks]( [Does Your Portfolio Need a Risk Audit?]( Here’s how to find the risks hiding in your portfolio. [Watch Now]( Get Top Stock Picks and Market Insights Every Week on The Morning Filter. Every Monday morning, Susan Dziubinski sits down with Morningstar Chief U.S. markets strategist Dave Sekera to discuss what's on his radar, new Morningstar research, and stock picks or pans for the week ahead. [Watch Now.](morningstar/streams?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_improvingfinances&utm_content=54323) Stay connected: [twitter]( [facebook]( [linkedin]( [instagram]( [YouTube]( [Apple News]( [View online]( | [See all newsletters]( | [Share your feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( from this newsletter. Or update your [email preferences](. © 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22 W. Washington St. Chicago, IL 60602