Index Funds, Retiring Early, and Real Estate Investing (Free Money Finance)

May 16, 2016

Here's my weekly dose of interesting articles from around the web:

Warren Buffett’s Bet with Hedge Funds - Here's the quote from the Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Buffett showed a chart comparing the cumulative returns of the two sides of the bet since 2008. As of the end of 2015, the S&P 500 index fund had a cumulative return of 65.7%, outdoing the hedge fund team’s 21.9% return. The S&P has outperformed in six of the eight individual years of the bet too. The chart was preamble to the real point Mr. Buffett wanted to make: that passive investors can do better than “hyperactive” investments handled by consultants and managers who charge high fees.” Costs matter. And they are one of the main reasons I invest using index funds. For a bit of a spin on this same issue, see When Mediocrity Trumps Brilliance and 4 ways Vanguard lowers the cost of investing.
Retiring After 65 May Help People Live Longer - Talk about dashing my hopes of early retirement! :) Seriously, am I going to limit my life span if I retire early?
How to Invest in Real Estate without Buying Property - You know how once you become aware of a topic you start to see posts about it all over the web? That's me and real estate crowdfunding right now. In addition to this piece, I ran into Part 1: The State of the Union in Real Estate Crowdfunding recently. Is someone trying to tell me to invest this way?

That's it for this week! Enjoy!