Investing Insights

A distribution from your traditional IRA could cost you if you’re not aware of your responsibilities. Many investors are saving up for their retirement in workplace accounts like 401(k)s. Those administrators handle tasks that IRA custodians don’t. And it’s up to you to take charge and keep track of your hard-earned money, so you’re not taxed twice. Denise Appleby is known as “The IRA Whisperer.” The Morningstar contributor has written about how to protect your IRA from costly mistakes. Don’t Pay Taxes Twice: Here’s How to Save Thousands on IRA Distributions https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/dont-pay-taxes-twice-heres-how-save-thousands-ira-distributions On this episode: 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:28 What is a Traditional IRA and How It’s Funded 00:02:29 How IRA Withdrawals Are Taxed When Accounts Hold Taxable and Tax-Free Dollars 00:05:36 What IRA Custodians Don’t Track and Why Investors Should  00:09:05 What to Check on Form 1099‑R and Why Form 8606 Matters 00:12:02 How to Fix IRA Mistakes 00:13:44 W

The 60/40 portfolio has proven it’s here to stay, but it can benefit from a refresh like other classics. The total portfolio approach refines the 60/40. It takes a closer look at the components of the plain-vanilla portfolio and considers how risky they are. The goal is to help investors stay disciplined as market conditions change for the better or worse. Jason Kephart has written about the total portfolio approach. He’s a senior principal of multi-asset  manager research for Morningstar. How a Total Portfolio Approach Can Improve the 60/40 Portfolio  Morningstar’s Tax-Planning and IRA Resources for 2026 On this episode:  00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:20 Total Portfolio Approach vs 60/40 Portfolio 00:01:52 How Growth and Stability Work 00:03:30 Why High-Yield Bonds Wouldn’t Go into Stability 00:04:30 Stocks That Might Be Better Suited for Stability than Growth 00:06:52 Challenges of the Total Portfolio Approach 00:08:49 How Investors Can Use This Strategy Watch more from Morningstar: Why REIT ETFs Still Work as Rea

The struggle of brick-and-mortar real estate has extended into investment portfolios. Elevated inflation and high interest rates have weighed on the real estate sector over the past few years. Real estate investment trusts or REIT ETFs have not been spared. Yet these exchange-traded funds are popular among income investors. They generate cash and can help diversify a portfolio. So, where do they fit in yours? And which REIT ETFs do Morningstar analysts consider top picks? Dan Sotiroff is the associate director of US Passive Strategies for Morningstar. Dan is also the editor of Morningstar’s ETFInvestor newsletter.Subscribe to Morningstar’s ETFInvestor newsletter. https://newsletters.morningstar.com/On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:26 Basics of REIT ETFs 00:04:34 Active vs. Passive REIT ETFs00:06:03 REIT ETFs’ Performance vs US Stock Market00:09:20 Cutting the Tax Bill on REIT ETF income  00:10:06 Top REIT ETFs From Vanguard & Schwab00:13:48 Key Takeaways for Income Investors Watch more from Morningst

Thanks to its tax benefits, your IRA can be a powerful tool to optimize your portfolio. Investment firms often see a big influx of new contributions into individual retirement accounts in the early part of each year as investors rush to meet the April 15 deadline. If you’re one of the many investors adding new funds to your IRA, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning Christine Benz has some ideas on how to make the most of those contributions and improve your portfolio in the process.How to Get the Most Out of Your IRA ContributionsOn this episode: 00:00:00 Welcome00:01:16 2026 IRA Contribution Limits00:01:45 How to Decide Between a Traditional and Roth IRA00:03:52 Stock Investing Mistakes to Avoid With Your IRA00:05:20 How to Invest Your IRA When You're Early in Your Career00:08:13 How to Assess Your IRA in the Middle of Your Earning Years00:10:23 The Advantages of Non-US Stocks and How to Diversify Your IRA00:14:30 How to Derisk Your Portfolio as You Approach Retirement00:16:47 R

merging-market funds will have a tough act to follow in 2026. The category racked up big gains last year following small returns for years. And a mix of factors like trade tensions prompted many investors to shift their dollars outside the US. Should you add emerging-market funds to your portfolio? And which ones were winners or losers? Morningstar’s senior principal of ratings Russ Kinnel dug into the data. The editor of the FundInvestor newsletter is here to tell you want he found.Subscribe to Morningstar’s FundInvestor newsletter.On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:20 Why Emerging‑Market Funds Surged After Years of Sluggish Returns00:02:29 Market Shifts of Leadership in Asia00:03:36 2025’s Winning Emerging-Market Funds00:05:08 2025’s Losing Emerging-Market Funds00:09:34 What’s Next for Emerging‑Market Funds in 2026?00:10:21 How Fidelity Contrafund’s Will Danoff Built a Successful Stock-Picking Record00:13:38 What Everyday Investors Can Learn from Danoff Watch more from Morningstar:How New Retirees Can Sp

If you’re newly retired or will join the ranks soon, it’s time to think about how you plan to spend your nest egg. Morningstar researchers are helping new retirees figure out where to begin. The recently published State of Retirement Income report concluded that the starting safe withdrawal rate for people beginning their retirement in 2026 is 3.9%. That number might appear low. However, the team has analyzed several strategies to lift it to almost 6%. Morningstar portfolio strategist Amy Arnott has investigated the data and joined the podcast to explain flexible withdrawal strategies.How Much Can You Spend in Retirement? Here’s Your Starting Safe Withdrawal Rate for 2026  https://apple.news/ALEEtAf1FTAm7WUFGvYvXVQOn this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:26 Understanding the 3.9% Safe Withdrawal Rate00:02:33 How Flexible Strategies Lift Withdrawal Rates Up to 5.7%00:03:48 Flexible Approaches for Retirees Seeking Predictable Paycheck-like Income00:05:40 Inside the Vanguard Dynamic Spending Method00:07:15 Highest

Quantum computing stocks have surged in popularity over the past year, capturing investors’ enthusiasm on the coattails of the artificial intelligence boom. These buzzy names took off last summer after a slew of announcements and research breakthroughs from the biggest players in the tech industry like Alphabet GOOGL/GOOG, Amazon AMZN and Microsoft MSFT. Quantum computing promises to be one of the most transformative technological developments of the next few decades, but Morningstar’s analysts caution that mainstream market adoption could be a long away. Dan Romanoff, a senior equity research analyst on the technology team at Morningstar, discusses new developments in the quantum computing landscape and the best way for investors to get exposure in their portfolios now.Quantum Computing Market InsightsOn this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:28 What Is Quantum Computing?00:04:37 Why Are Computing Stocks Attracting Investors?00:12:45 Quantum Technology Isn’t Yet Ready for the Mainstream00:18:19Quantum Could Repr

Higher interest rates have ushered in an era where income opportunities abound. That’s following years of parched cash flow streams and low rates, especially in fixed income. However, risks like stubborn inflation and elevated stock valuations exist. Morningstar researchers believe it’s important to identify income opportunities that could be resilient in today’s market. Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist for Morningstar Wealth, joined Investing Insights to discuss where to look.Editor's note: The host misspoke when referring to Morningstar Holland’s chief European market strategist. His name is Michael Field.Income Investing Strategies for 2026: Maximizing Yield in an Uncertain MarketOn this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:33 Income investing in 202600:04:02 Bond market breakdown: short, intermediate, or long term?00:07:39 Global bonds and hedging strategies00:13:27 Equity Opportunities Beyond the US00:15:31 REITs vs Utilities00:17:14 Building Resilient Income Streams  Watch more from Morningstar

Is your portfolio making a big bet on the Magnificent Seven? Mega-cap names like Nvidia, Alphabet, and Apple belong to the exclusive club that has largely driven US returns higher in recent years. Their success has led to market concentration. Portfolios tracking broad benchmarks have seen their diversification decrease and risk increase. How can you prepare your portfolio to absorb potential shocks? And where are the opportunities beyond the Mag Seven? Morningstar Holland’s Chief European Market Strategist Michael Field is one of the researchers who investigated this.Beyond the Magnificent Seven: Unlocking Value in a Concentrated Stock MarketOn this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:49 The Magnificent Seven’s strong returns have benefited many investors. Why is their dominance a risk?00:02:07 Your team highlighted a noteworthy stat in the report. The top 10 US stocks make up about 35% of the overall market. That’s almost double from a decade ago. What does that signal to you?00:02:39 Can you explain what the hid

This week, we’re looking back at three discussions we held earlier this year on Investing Insights about exchange-traded funds that income investors might find attractive. Morningstar ETF specialists, Bryan Armour and Dan Sotiroff, talked about dividend, bond, and covered-call ETFs in 2025.Subscribe to Morningstar’s ETFInvestor Newsletter.On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:33 Dividend investing can result in exposure to factors like value, quality, and low volatility. Can you briefly explain one, what is factor investing, and then where do dividend ETFs typically land?00:03:21 How do you find a dividend ETF that provides the optimal, or just rightamount, of factor exposure? And what should appear on our checklist? 00:04:40 Four dividend ETFs hold Morningstar’s Medalist Rating of Gold. Let’s start with the two dividend growth ETFs from Vanguard that hold these marks.00:05:17 Explain why Vanguard’s top dividend income strategy also impressed Morningstar analysts.00:06:07 The final and fourth Gold-rated divid

Market volatility has left its imprint in 2025. Turbulence from tariffs, tech, and more have shaken investors’ confidence at times. Many folks looked for safety during those down periods. Yet, the US stock market overall has delivered a strong performance. So, who are the leaders and laggards as this year comes closer to wrapping up? And what should you watch with 2026 fast-approaching? Morningstar Indexes strategist and columnist Dan Lefkovitz has examined this year’s investment performance.5 Investing Surprises From 2025On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:02:45 Market volatility ebbed and flowed in 2025. How volatile was the US stock market this year compared to recent years? 00:03:51 What has driven the volatility this year? 00:05:16 During these down periods, where did investors hide or seek safety? 00:06:04 Let’s zoom in on the investment leaders and laggards this year. What areas are outperforming, and which ones are underperforming? 00:06:43 You research the performance of investment factors which can d

A shift in mindset can help investors cope with market uncertainty.2025 was a case study in the futility of trying to predict the market. Wall Street had lofty expectations for stocks entering the year. Then the tariff shock in April rattled the markets and many firms lowered their annual stock forecasts in response. They later raised them—after stock prices rebounded. With the new year on the horizon, Morningstar’s 2026 Global Outlook report is offering investors tactics to weather whatever the future may hold.Morningstar strategists and an analyst will discuss key challenges facing investors in 2026 in our series. Dan Kemp, the chief research and investment officer with Morningstar Investment Management Europe, is one of the major driving forces behind the report.We’re going to dig into research analyzing the AI arms race and its worldwide buildout. A team of Morningstar researchers have investigated the spending and the risks. Morningstar Research Services’ senior equity analyst Brian Colello was part of t

Most retirees want to spend as much as they can without having to worry about running out of money. Morningstar’s State of Retirement Income research analyzes retirement spending strategies to determine the highest safe starting withdrawal rate for new retirees in 2026. Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning and co-host of The Long View podcast, breaks down the research and shares some ideas about how you can boost your retirement spending.What’s a Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026?On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:00:46 Each year, you and your colleagues producethis really comprehensive research about retirement income. And as part of that research, you try toidentify what a safe withdrawal rate will be for the year ahead. 00:01:59 What is that safe withdrawal percentage, and how did you arrive at that conclusion?00:02:41 The 4% rule often comes up in the conversation around retirement spending. How does that compare to your base case?00:03:30 I know there

Exchange-traded funds can help you cut your tax bill. All funds must distribute capital gains from the stocks and bonds that they sell throughout the year. The gains can leave you stuck with unwanted taxes. ETFs and mutual funds differ when it comes to tax efficiency. It starts with how the investments are traded and how the transactions are treated. The differences can result in ETF investors owing less than mutual fund investors or nothing at all because ETFs can minimize their capital gain distributions. Bryan Armour, Morningstar’s director of ETF and passive strategies research for North America, explains how ETFs beat mutual funds at the tax game.ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: The Benefits That Really Matter On this episode:00:00:00 Welcome00:01:01 ETFs are more tax-friendly than their mutual fund rivals. Why is that?00:02:17 How does the way ETFs are traded limit the tax drag that affects mutual funds?00:03:23 ETF investors will eventually pay a tax bill. Why is it important to control when that happens?00:04:0

Your portfolio might be due for an end-of-the-year cleanup. The Morningstar US Market Index is up about 15% through mid-November 2025, and overall performance has been strong for years (even after 2022’s down market). That said, some stock sectors have performed significantly better than others, and performance can vary widely even within a sector. That could mean you’relikely holding some winners and some losers. Tax-loss harvesting could help trim your tax bill to save some money. While you’re tuning up your portfolio, it could also be a good opportunity to bring your asset allocation back into balance. Morningstar portfolio strategist Amy Arnott is here to explain how to pull off both strategies.How to Rebalance Your Portfolio in a Lofty Market https://www.morningstar.com/portfolios/how-rebalance-your-portfolio-lofty-marketOn this episode:00:11 Welcome01:03 What is tax-loss harvesting, and how does it work?01:41 Is a brokerage or retirement account better suited for tax-loss selling? Why?02:12 The US stock

Investors are betting big on bond exchange-traded funds. Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into bond ETFs in the first nine months of 2025. And more of these strategies have hit the market over the past several years. It’s important to remember that some bond ETFs are riskier than others. What should investors consider before tweaking their portfolio? Dan Sotiroff, a senior manager research analyst at Morningstar Research Services and the editor of the Morningstar ETFInvestor newsletter, discusses that and shares five top ideas for income investors.Subscribe to Morningstar ETFInvestor for the full list of highly-rated bond ETFs. 00:00:00 Introduction00:00:54 Bond ETFs are having a banner year. Why are investors turning to these investments? 00:02:31 Which is getting the bigger slice: passively or actively managed bond ETFs?00:03:15 What are the four major types of bond ETFs, and how do they differ?00:04:35 This month’s edition of Morningstar ETFInvestor analyzed more than a dozen bond ETFs. What mak

Are you getting the most out of your fund’s performance? Over the past 10 years, the average dollar invested in US mutual funds and exchange-traded funds earned 1.2% less per year than what those funds returned during the same period. That’s the top-line finding in this year’s Mind the Gap study, which aims to address the question of where investors succeeded in capturing most of their funds’ returns, and where they fell short. Jeff Ptak, a managing director for Morningstar Research Services, breaks down the takeaways from the report and what investors can do if they want to avoid leaving money on the table.Mind the Gap US 2025On this episode:00:52 How does the report measure the difference between investor returns and total returns?02:16 How does the latest research compare with previous years? Is the “gap” going away?02:58 This difference in investor returns and total returns doesn’t just come from people failing to time the market. What else might cause the gap?04:29 Where have investors been able to captu

How is the weakening dollar affecting your portfolio? The world’s reserve currency fell sharply in the first half of 2025, making it a bruising year. It has recovered some but still sits below where it started the year. Other currencies like the euro, Japanese yen, and Mexican peso look stronger against the greenback. Several factors could influence whether the dollar roars back or recedes. Why should the dollar’s performance matter for everyday investors like you? Morningstar Indexes strategist Dan Lefkovitz explains why and what you can do to protect your portfolio from currency fluctuations.The bifurcation of the stock market is appearing to divide investors into two camps. There’s a lot of optimism baked into share prices of firms seen as leaders in artificial intelligence, according to Dan Kemp, chief research and investment officer at Morningstar Investment Management Europe. The Market Brief author points to Tesla TSLA as a great example, since investors are ascribing significant value to the company’s

This year’s uncertainty is producing a somewhat surprising group of winning and losing asset classes. And there are still two months to go in 2025. Many investors are rerouting their investments into different asset classes because of geopolitical risks like the US trade war, elevated inflation, and high interest rates. A more recent development is the budget battle in Washington, D.C. While the macro environment is pressure-testing portfolios, it’s also serving as a reminder about the benefits of diversification. So, which asset classes are leading and lagging as 2025 prepares to wrap up? And how’s the classic 60/40 portfolio holding up? Morningstar portfolio strategist Amy Arnott has examined the data.The hunt for cockroaches may produce opportunities for patient investors. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reacted to First Brands’ and Tricolor’s bankruptcies saying, “When you see one cockroach there are probably more.” Dan Kemp, chief investment research officer at Morningstar Investment Management Europe, sa

Over the past few years, just a few large-cap technology stocks have powered the stock market’s returns. That trend shows no signs of abating anytime soon, as demand for artificial intelligence continues to send the tech sector higher. A highly concentrated market can—and has—turbocharged returns, but it also comes with downsides. As tech stocks soar, fund investors may find themselves with portfolios that are significantly less diverse than expected thanks to the outsize influence of a handful of firms like Nvidia NVDA and Microsoft MSFT. Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist for Morningstar Wealth, discusses how today’s narrow market compares with history and how investors can mitigate concentration risk in their portfolios. Morningstar Wealth is part of a registered investment advisor, Morningstar Investment Management.https://www.morningstar.com/markets/whatever-happened-broadening-stock-market-rally On this episode: What do strategists mean when they talk about concentration risk? How did toda