Transcript:

It seems like every day brings a new story of corporate mismanagement – backdated stock options, inflated sales figures, and numbers that get fudged.

That’s why I’ve been shifting my own investing strategy away from individual stocks into index funds.

Index funds are an easy way to diversify your retirement funds, and they’re about as cheap as it gets.

At Fidelity and Vanguard, you pay just a tenth of one percent for a bunch of basic index funds. Most other investment companies charge 1 to 1 ½ percent for doing the exact same thing.

There are plenty of funds to choose from: I own a large cap index fund, a small cap fund, an international fund and a bond fund. With four index funds, I’ve cut way back on my risk with returns that will beat 85 percent of managed mutual funds. I can even buy sector index funds.

Check out how different index funds have performed – and how much they cost – at Morningstar.com.

With practical, informative consumer advice, I’m Ilyce Glink, News-Talk 750 WSB