This show is a proud member of the Retirement Podcast Network.

Welcome to Stay Walthy podcast. I'm your host, Taylor Schulte, and today I'm wrapping up our

small cap value investing series by sharing how you can take action. Specifically, I'm sharing

three big things. Number one, why in some cases it can actually make sense to pay more for an investment number two how everyone

yes everyone can easily evaluate different mutual funds and etifs and finally number three what are

some of the small cap value funds for investors to consider i'm also sharing a couple of really

important reminders for listeners to take into consideration before taking action and investing their hard-earned money in this popular asset class.

To view the research, articles, and charts supporting today's episode, just head over to

you staywalthy.com forward slash 227.

According to studies done by Morningstar and Vanguard, investment fees are the best predictor of future returns. In other words, based on this research, higher cost investment funds are more likely to underperform lower cost investment funds.

As a very simple example, take the following two investments, the Ridex S&P 500 index fund and the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund.

Two funds targeting the same exact asset class and tracking the same index with the same

stocks. Yet, since 2006, the Vanguard fund has

outperformed the Rydex fund by about 150%. How is that possible? Well, it's possible because

the Vanguard fund costs 0.04% per year to own, while the Ridex fund costs 1.62% per year to own. In other words,

it costs investors $1,620 per year for every $100,000 that they invest in the Ridex fund, and only $40 per year to own the Vanguard fund.

The extra $1,580 charged by the Rydex fund reduces the investor's returns.

In this case, over the last 18 years, it's reduced returns by about 150%.

We see a similar situation play out with alternative investments and hedge funds.

The majority of alternatives and hedge funds

underperform simple broad-based index funds. And it's not because the investment managers

running those funds don't know what they're doing or they aren't smart investors. It's typically

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