It's almost fair to believe that a monkey, throwing darts at different asset classes, would have assembled a decent portfolio this year.

Today's Stocks & Topics: 401k Funds, Index Funds, Biggest Money Mistakes, Don’t Buy Last Year’s Winners, LL - Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc., INGR - Ingredion Inc., KNDI - Kandi Technologies Group Inc., KR - Kroger Co., GMCR - Keurig Green Mountain Inc., Roth IRA vs. 529 Plan.

So often we think there's no difference between stock trading and investing. But Warren Buffett wants us to think again.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Dividends, Home Improvements, Greece, 10 things not to buy in 2015, Target Date Funds, Retirement, TCP - TC PipeLines L.P. vs. WPZ - Williams Partners L.P., CAT - Caterpillar Inc.

Bonds can offer capital preservation. Unless the company goes bankrupt, you can be certain you'll get back your orignal investment.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Right Time to Invest, Bad Economy?, Oil Prices & The Stock Market, Year End Taxes, Universal Life Insurance, Early Retirement, Small Caps, Credit Card Debt, Investing, Bonds, The Stock Market.

To understand whether a self-directed IRA is right for you, you must first understand exactly what it is – and isn’t - and how to avoid the pitfalls.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Oil Prices, Airlines ETFs, Retail Sales, Financial Plan for Retirement, U.S. Debt, 529-Plan, Gas Prices, Trading Information, Mutual Funds, Investing at Old Age, Retirement, Economic Value.

Target date funds could be steering some toward a date with disaster.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Index Funds, Panic Selling, Retail Sales in November, U.S. Debt, Fracking, Closed-End Funds, Target-date Funds, Mutual Funds, GNP: Gross National Product, Dividens, I-R-A, Hedge Funds, Warrants, Financial Analysis, Secondary Market.

From investing on emotion to chasing past returns . . . if you follow what feels good you are usually going to do the wrong thing.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Coverdell I-R-A, Avoiding IRA Mistakes, GILD - Gilead Sciences Inc., SAFM - Sanderson Farms Inc., XOM - Exxon Mobil Corp., MNTX - Manitex International Inc., Moving Average, The Stock Market, CFX - Colfax Corp.

There are a million of them out there.  And they'll keep trying to take our money as long as we'll let them.

Today's Stocks & Topics: GILD - Gilead Sciences Inc., Crisis in Russia, The Fed, Worst Mistakes at Any Age, CORE - Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc., RIG - Transocean Ltd., USO - United States Oil Fund LP, Day Trading.

The average investor believes this has been a particularly powerful bull market in stocks this year.

Today's Stocks & Topics: New Investor, Reverse Mortgage & Retirement, Sectors in 2015, AAPL - Apple Inc., DLR - Digital Realty Trust Inc., First Time Investor, MZOR - Mazor Robotics Ltd. ADS, FB - Facebook Inc. Cl A, IEMM - iShares PLC iShares MSCI Emerging Markets.

In the perennial personal finance debate over whether you should pay off your mortgage or invest your savings, some take a firm stand.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Swiss Announce Negative Interest Rates, Reverse Mortgage, 5 Questions to Predict if Your Will Be a Millionaire, SILC - Silicom Ltd., AAPL - Apple Inc., SYK - Stryker Corp., Oil, CERS - Cerus Corp., BA - Boeing Co.

The element of time can nearly always trump all other investing factors, and can dictate the makeup of your portfolio.

Today's Stocks & Topics: Sitting Dollars, 5 Questions to Predict if Your Will Be a Millionaire, Gold, Where is the Big Money?, CHTRX - Invesco Charter Fund, FSLR - First Solar Inc., IBM - International Business Machines Corp., NEWM - New Media Investment Group Inc., WTW - Weight Watchers International Inc., A & B Shares.