Personal Finance

With interest rates likely stuck near zero for nearly three more years, conservative investors—from retirees and college savers to banks and insurance companies—face a tough choice: move into riskier investments or continue coming up short from low-risk investments that aren’t even keeping pace with inflation.

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Itchy Investors Ramp Up the Risk

If you haven’t used all the money in your college savings plan, don’t just cash it in.

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What to Do With 529-Plan Leftovers

Spotlight: A fund that offers a low-cost option for investing in munis, whose yields remain higher than on some other bonds, such as U.S. Treasurys.

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A Low-Cost Choice for Muni Income

David Snowball, creator of the Mutual Fund Observer website, says exciting investments can be hazardous. Among mutual funds, he suggests promising new offerings and overlooked gems.

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Professor’s Advice: It’s Best to Be Bored

The Occupy movement would shun the biggest financial institutions. Few of the ’socially responsible’ funds do that.

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Are Bank Stocks ‘Responsible’?

Mixing It Up: The father-and-son team behind Merriman Inc. were once big proponents of market timing.

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Goodbye to Market Timing

With many tickers already taken and others reserved for future products, finding a symbol that’s both available and memorable isn’t as easy as it sounds.

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The Scramble for Catchy ETF Tickers

Under a new Labor Department rule, mutual-fund companies and other 401(k) administrators must disclose plan fees to employers and to the workers investing in the plans.

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Retirement Plans Will Soon Start Talking Fees

18-to-30-year-olds say they don’t feel comfortable about stocks, but that bears little resemblance to how they actually invest.

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Gen Y Invests More Than It Thinks

The company has been expanding its mining operations into eastern Canada, western Australia and Brazil, and its push outside the U.S. could help its shares climb as high as $115.

Excerpt from:
Cliffs Stands to Profit From Emerging-Markets Building Boom