Use Bankrate.com's free tools, expert analysis, and award-winning content to make smarter financial decisions. Explore personal finance topics including credit cards, investments, identity protection, autos, retirement, credit reports, and so much more.| Bankrate
Mutual funds and ETFs can both offer many benefits for your portfolio, including instant diversification at a low cost.| Bankrate
This step-by-step guide for beginners can get you investing in the stock market, whether you want to use an online brokerage, robo-advisor or financial advisor.| Bankrate
It’s never been easier to buy stocks. If you have a little bit of money and a brokerage account, you can buy a piece of a publicly traded company.| Bankrate
Use Bankrate.com's free tools, expert analysis, and award-winning content to make smarter financial decisions. Explore personal finance topics including credit cards, investments, identity protection, autos, retirement, credit reports, and so much more.| Bankrate
Fractional share investing allows investors to purchase a stock or ETF with almost any amount of money rather than having to buy a full share.| Bankrate
Learn how to invest in the S&P 500 index fund and what to consider when adding the S&P 500 to your long-term portfolio.| Bankrate
Everything you need to know about the best index funds and ten of the top mutual funds and ETFs to consider adding to your portfolio this year.| Bankrate
Dollar-cost averaging is a simple way to help reduce your risk and increase your returns, and it works to take advantage of a volatile stock market. You can set up your brokerage account to buy stocks or funds automatically and regularly, then sit back and do the things you love, rather than spend all of your time investing.| Bankrate
The Standard & Poor's 500 index is an ironic name for one of the best collections of stocks in the world, one that has returned investors about 10 percent annually over long periods of time.| Bankrate
Large-cap stocks and small-cap stocks – the two sound similar, but offer entirely different risk profiles as well as potential for returns. Knowing how to discern between the two is crucial when building out your own portfolio and managing investment expectations.| Bankrate
Passive investing can be a huge winner for investors, and not only does it offer lower costs but it also performs better than most active investors.| Bankrate
An emergency fund is money that’s set aside for unplanned expenses, such as a medical bill, home repair or loss of income. Using emergency savings to cover unexpected expenses is better than paying with high-interest credit cards or taking out a loan.| Bankrate
With literally thousands of ETFs to choose from, where does an investor start? Below are some of the best ETFs by category, including some highly specialized funds| Bankrate
Long-term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than short-term gains. In a hot stock market, the difference can be significant to your after-tax profits.| Bankrate