What is a Bundle?
Earlier this month, I was interviewed by Charlie Brennan, prominent radio host on KMOX (St. Louis, Missouri radio station) and answered questions from Charlie’s listeners about The Roadside Scholar investment philosophy.
One listener asked why I favored investing in stock “bundles” over purchasing individual stocks for the average investor.
I could not have been more excited to answer. First, the listener clearly had read Amazing Money Lessons from Behind the Fence since the word bundle, as applied to investing, had not been used before the book. Second, it confirmed that everyday folks relate to the word bundle more than the more confusing Wall Street terms “mutual fund” or “exchange traded fund.”
So, what is a bundle?
A bundle is a group of stocks or bonds packaged together and sold for one price.
For an affordable price (most sell for between $25 and $100 per share), the buyer receives ownership in typically hundreds of stocks or bonds.
Bundles allow individual investors to invest in highly successful strategies easily and in a cost and tax-efficient manner. The investor gets diversification and an automatically evolving group of companies without sacrificing profit potential.
The most popular stock bundle owns the 500 large, US companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (ticker symbol: SPY). There are, however, thousands of bundles to choose from that allow the individual to own almost any segment of the stock and bond markets – US only, global, big company, small company, value stocks, momentum stocks and investment-grade bonds just to name a handful of choices.
Roadside Scholar Tip: The typical individual investor should buy stock and bond bundles rather than individual company stocks or bonds – bottom line profits after expenses and taxes will likely be much higher.
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For more information and easy to understand explanations of important money matters go to www.theroadsidescholar.com or purchase The Roadside Scholar: Amazing Money Lessons from Behind the Fence.