Clark is happy to be average when it comes to investing. Why? If you go for the average, you will make money over time. All of the funds listed on Clark’s “Investment Guide” page are mostly index funds. And index funds are the epitome of average. Instead of trying to be on top of the stock market, you basically buy little chunks of lots of companies with lots of other people. Index funds have minimal costs. Even better, these funds perform much better than other funds. The Wall Street Journal commissioned a study into the performance of index funds versus mutual funds. In a year, an index fund would beat 57 percent of managed mutual funds. Over five years, it goes up to 70 percent. And over 25 years, it goes up to 95 percent. So, it’s much easier for the index fund to make money over time.

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In other investing news, ETFs are growing and you may want to consider one of those. But beware of pitches for what are called “separately managed accounts.” Salespeople are targeting the wealthy and nearly wealthy, especially doctors and lawyers, to buy these. But you’d be much better looking at tax-managed portfolios instead.