Response to Lisa

Some one named Lisa left a good question on the Amerivest post. You can click on the article link to see her question.

She asked about an ETF portfolio on David Jackson's Tech Uncovered site.

IVV	iShares S&P 500 Index Fund	Large cap US stocks	0.09%
IJH	iShares S&P Mid Cap 400 Index Fund	Mid cap US stocks	0.20%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund	Small cap US stocks	0.20%
EFA	iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund	Large cap foreign developed market stocks	0.35%
EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund	Large cap emerging market stocks	0.75%
RWR	streetTRACKS Wilshire REIT Index Fund	Real estate investment trust index fund	0.25%
LQD	iShares GS $ Investop Corporate Bond Fund	US corporate bonds	0.15%
SHY	iShares Lehman 1 to 3 Year Treasury Bond Fund	US short-term Governement bonds	0.15%
IEF	iShares Lehman 7 to 10 Year Treasury Bond Fund	US long-term Governement bonds	0.15%
TIP	iShares Lehman TIPs Bond Fund	US Governement inflation-protected bonds	0.15%

I read David's site often, it is excellent. What good about the portfolio is there is no real overlap. Too many of these things miss this point. I do think it is possible to capture a little more yield in the fixed income component without taking a lot more risk, if any more risk. The other thing is I'm not sure if these should be equal weighted in the portfolio or not.

The biggest flaw would be with the person that implements this portfolio but doesn't continue to learn about new products. ETFs are in their infancy. CEFs used to be dominated by single country funds and bond funds. More and more CEFs are becoming very sophisticated. Both ETFs and CEFs will continue to evolve. I can not say they are right for everyone, but any do-it-yourselfer should take the time to keep up with this part of the industry.