Heads up! We've just updated SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker and our monthly Fund Performance Rankings (FPR) to reflect mutual-fund performance data through July 31, 2018.

• The Personal Portfolio Tracker is our most popular web tool. It allows you to personalize SMI's mutual-fund rankings to your specific situation. The result is a monthly report showing only the funds you're interested in, ranked by momentum and sorted according to various risk categories (or without the categories, if you prefer).
  
  This allows you to take the 20,000+ mutual funds we track and instantly transform those rankings into a concise report covering only the specific funds available via your 401k and/or other retirement plan(s).
   
• The Fund Performance Rankings report is a PDF file containing performance data and SMI's momentum rankings for more than 1,600 no-load funds and ETFs. The funds included have been selected on the basis of asset size, brand familiarity, and brokerage availability.
  
  Check page 2 to learn more about how to use the FPR. On page 3, you'll find an overview of the 70+ risk categories that will help you compare "apples to apples." And on page 4, there are explanations of the various data-column headings.

Want to get an email when the Tracker and FPR updates go live each month? Visit the SMI home page and click on "My Account" under Quick Links. From there, go to the "Email Subscriptions" page and check the box next to "FPR/Tracker Update."

In investing, as in life, it’s important to manage your expectations. There’s nothing quite like an unmet expectation to drive misery and misbehavior. That helps explain why fewer people own stocks today than before the Great Recession (54% now vs. 64% then). Many of those who left the market likely had no idea the market could fall so far so fast.

One way to manage your expectations is to have a working knowledge of regression to the mean.

Why Upgrade?

SMI offers two primary investing strategies for “basic” members. They are different in philosophy, the amount of attention they require, and the rate of return expected from each. Our preferred investing strategy is called Fund Upgrading, and is based on the idea that if you are willing to regularly monitor your mutual-fund holdings and replace laggards periodically, you can improve your returns. While Upgrading is relatively low-maintenance, it does require you to check your fund holdings each month and replace funds occasionally. If you don’t wish to do this yourself, a professionally-managed version of Upgrading is available.

SMI also offers an investing strategy based on index funds called Just-the-Basics (JtB). JtB requires attention only once per year. The returns expected from JtB are lower over time than what we expect (and have received) from Upgrading. JtB makes the most sense for those in 401(k) plans that lack a sufficient number of quality fund options to make successful Upgrading within the plan possible. Here are the funds and percentage allocations we recommend for our Just-the-Basics indexing strategy.

We've just updated SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker and our monthly Fund Performance Rankings (FPR) to reflect final mutual-fund performance data through June 30, 2018.

(We try to post the Tracker and FPR updates between the 10th-14th of each month, depending on data availability and when the weekend falls.)

• SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker is our most popular web tool. It allows SMI members to personalize our mutual-fund rankings to their specific situations. The result is a monthly report showing only the funds each member is interested in, ranked by momentum and sorted according to SMI's risk categories (or without the categories, if a member prefers).
  
  This allows a member to take the 20,000+ funds SMI tracks and instantly transform those rankings into a concise report covering only the specific offerings available via his or her 401k (or other retirement plan).
   
• The Fund Performance Rankings report is a PDF file containing performance data and momentum rankings for more than 1,600 no-load funds and ETFs. The funds included have been selected on the basis of asset size, brand familiarity, and brokerage availability.
  
  You'll find help in understanding how to use the FPR (page 2), an overview of the 70+ risk categories that will help you compare "apples to apples" (page 3), and explanations for the various data-column headings (page 4).

To receive an email when the Tracker and FPR updates go live each month, visit the SMI home page and click on "My Account" under Quick Links. From there, go to the "Email Subscriptions" page and check the box next to "FPR/Tracker Update."

Another anniversary has arrived! We’re now at 28 years and counting since Larry Burkett challenged me with an idea for a monthly financial publication, one that would build on the biblical principles he taught and would make specific and appropriate investment recommendations without conflicts of interest or ulterior motives.

Larry was God’s provision for the early difficult days of SMI. He extended grace to me. Asking nothing in return, his mentoring, encouragement, and public support during the early 1990s allowed us to survive a slow, underfunded start, and his on-going friendship enabled SMI to grow and flourish. Without Larry, there would have been no SMI.

A lot has changed around here since July 1990 when I ordered a printing of 500 copies of our first issue. For one thing, we have about 7,500 or so members rather than a list of a few hundred friends pulled together from my Rolodex! I now have a whole crew of teammates who help support our website, our radio appearances, and our mutual-fund partnership (rather than just one loyal and long-suffering secretary.)

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker and monthly Fund Performance Rankings (FPR) report have been updated to reflect mutual-fund performance data current through May 31, 2018. (The Tracker and FPR typically are updated between the 10th-14th, but we've been able to move things up a bit this month.)

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker is our most popular web tool. It allows SMI members to personalize our mutual-fund rankings to their specific situation. The result is a monthly report showing only the funds each member is interested in, ranked by momentum and sorted according to SMI's risk categories (or without the categories, if a member prefers). This allows a member to take the 20,000+ funds SMI tracks every month and instantly transform those rankings into a concise report covering only the specific offerings available via his or her 401k (or other retirement plan).

The Fund Performance Rankings report contains performance data and momentum rankings on more than 1,600 no-load funds and ETFs. The funds included have been selected on the basis of asset size, brand familiarity, and brokerage availability. You'll find help in understanding how to use the FPR (page 2), an overview of the 70+ risk categories that help you compare "apples to apples" (page 3), and explanations for the various data-column headings (page 4).

To receive an email when the FPR and Tracker updates go live each month, visit the SMI home page and click on "My Account" under Quick Links. From there, go to the "Email Subscriptions" page and check the box next to "FPR/Tracker Update."

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker and monthly Fund Performance Rankings (FPR) report have been updated to reflect mutual-fund performance data current through April 30, 2018. (The Tracker and FPR typically are updated between the 10th-14th of the month, depending on when the weekend falls.)

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker is our most popular web tool. It allows SMI members to personalize our mutual-fund rankings to their specific situation. The result is a monthly report showing only the funds each member is interested in, ranked by momentum and sorted according to SMI's risk categories (or without the categories, if a member prefers). This allows a member to take the 20,000+ funds SMI tracks every month and instantly transform those rankings into a concise report covering only the specific offerings available via his or her 401k (or other retirement plan).

The Fund Performance Rankings report contains performance data and momentum rankings on more than 1,600 no-load funds and ETFs. The funds included have been selected on the basis of asset size, brand familiarity, and brokerage availability. You'll find help in understanding how to use the FPR (page 2), an overview of the 70+ risk categories that help you compare "apples to apples" (page 3), and explanations for the various data-column headings (page 4).

To receive an email when the FPR and Tracker updates go live each month, visit the SMI home page and click on "My Account" under Quick Links. From there, go to the "Email Subscriptions" page and check the box next to "FPR/Tracker Update."

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker and monthly Fund Performance Rankings (FPR) report have been updated to reflect mutual-fund performance data current through March 31, 2018. (The Tracker and FPR typically are updated monthly between the 10th-14th of the month, depending on when the weekend falls.)

SMI's Personal Portfolio Tracker is our most popular web tool. It allows SMI members to personalize our mutual-fund rankings to their specific situation. The result is a monthly report showing only the funds each member is interested in, ranked by momentum and sorted according to SMI's risk categories (or without the categories, if a member prefers). This allows a member to take the 20,000+ funds SMI tracks every month and instantly transform those rankings into a concise report covering only the specific offerings available via his or her 401k (or other retirement plan).

The Fund Performance Rankings report contains performance data and momentum rankings on more than 1,600 no-load funds and ETFs. The funds included have been selected on the basis of asset size, brand familiarity, and brokerage availability. You'll find help in understanding how to use the FPR (page 2), an overview of the 70+ risk categories that help you compare "apples to apples" (page 3), and explanations for the various data-column headings (page 4).

To receive an email each month when the FPR and Tracker updates go live, go to the SMI home page and click on "My Account" under Quick Links. From there, go to the "Email Subscriptions" page and check the box next to "FPR/Tracker Update."