Knowledge Base
Tax strategy, healthcare before Medicare, the post-FIRE identity shift, and the financial decisions that get more complicated after you stop earning.
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Parametric S&P 500 investing is a quantitative portfolio construction methodology that holds individual constituent securities rather than pooled fund shares, then applies rules-based filters to modify exposures across sectors, factors, or individual positions. The result is a portfolio that tracks
The S&P 500 average annual return from 1926 through 2023 sits at approximately 10.2% on a nominal, total-return basis (dividends reinvested), according to Morningstar's historical data. After inflation, that figure drops to roughly 7.0–7.3%. Both numbers matter, but which one matters more depends en
The S&P 500 rolling 10-year return has ranged from roughly -3% annualized (ending 2009) to over 19% annualized (ending 1999), according to Morningstar's historical equity data. That 22-percentage-point spread is the number that should anchor every serious conversation about long-term equity exposure
The S&P 500 fair value question has a concrete answer framework, even if the precise number is always contested. As of late 2024, the index forward P/E sat near 21-22x against a 25-year average of roughly 16.5x, and the Shiller CAPE exceeded 35 against a long-run mean near 17. That gap has real cons
The Medallion Fund vs S&P 500 comparison is the most lopsided performance contest in investment history, and almost entirely irrelevant to you as an investable option. Renaissance Technologies closed Medallion to outside capital in 2005. What remains useful is understanding *why* Medallion worked,
The S&P 500 PE ratio has ranged from single digits during the Great Depression to above 120 in mid-2009, when earnings collapsed faster than prices. The long-run average sits near 16 on a trailing basis, but that number alone tells you almost nothing useful. Context, metric selection, and your speci
The S&P 500 ex-Magnificent 7 is not an official index product from S&P Dow Jones Indices. It is an analytical construct: the performance of the S&P 500's 493 remaining constituents after removing Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, NVIDIA, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. You calculate it by stripping tho
Over 59 years, Berkshire Hathaway has compounded at roughly 19.8% annually versus the S&P 500's 10.2% with dividends reinvested, per the 2023 Berkshire annual report. That gap is extraordinary. The problem is that most of it was built before 2000, and the last decade tells a different story entirely
The VIX vs S&P 500 correlation averages approximately -0.73 over long historical periods, but that number understates how regime-dependent the relationship actually is. During acute stress events, the correlation tightens to -0.85 or stronger. During calm bull markets, it loosens considerably. For a
S&P investment grade ratings run from BBB- at the floor to AAA at the top. According to S&P Global Ratings' published definitions, BBB- or higher signals adequate-to-exceptional capacity to meet financial commitments, while anything below enters speculative-grade territory. For investors managing $5
The FTSE 100 vs S&P 500 comparison is not a contest with a clear winner. It is a structural difference in factor exposure that matters for portfolio construction at scale. The S&P 500 gives you US tech-driven growth. The FTSE 100 gives you value, dividends, and commodity-linked earnings. Whether you
RSP and the cap-weighted S&P 500 hold identical constituents. The difference is how much each stock matters. In the cap-weighted version, the five largest companies currently represent a larger share of your return than the bottom 400 combined. RSP gives every stock the same 0.2% starting weight, re