Go Global, Go Passive, Go Vanguard

There is a big lesson to learn with investing, it's that the market is unpredictable. Most money managers will not beat the index of the total stockmarket, which you can invest in through Vanguard's VTI fund. A further step toward passively beating the majority of money managers would be to place a good chunk of your investment into the global market. This article talks about Vanguard's World Stockmarket Index, VWO, which has already enticed $60 billion of investors dollars, so you can know it is a wise choice.

This passively managed fund, which tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets index, holds nearly 900 stocks in 21 different countries. But this is a capitalization-weighted index, which means that despite its broad global reach, the largest economies have the most influence. Nearly 60% of the fund is invested in four places: China, Brazil, South Korea, and Taiwan.