Where to go for advice you can trust

Before betting the farm on some hot new investment, head to these Web communities.

Subscribe to Personal Finance
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Joe Light, Ismat Sarah Mangla and Pat Regnier

The 28 Best Money Web Sites
• College
• Advice
invest_chart2.jpg

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- Where on the Web can you find people talking about stock picks? Same place you find Lindsay Lohan gossip and goofy pictures of cats: pretty much everywhere.

There's even a gaggle of new Facebooklike social-networking sites, such as CakeFinancial.com and the communities at online brokers Zecco.com and TradeKing.com, that let users link their personal profiles to their brokerage accounts so that others can see and talk about what they own.

The technology is neat, but it doesn't solve the basic problem with stock chatter: If most pros can't beat the market, what makes you think "GOOGfella4" knows anything special?

And talking a lot about stocks has a way of encouraging you to trade more, which will make you poorer.

The best advice - in print, online or in conversation - is about long-term strategy, not stock picks.

And that's where the "Boglehead" message boards shine. The Bogleheads got their start as an online community for fans of Vanguard funds at the Morningstar Web site, and they attracted a dedicated following that includes some top financial planners.

They've since set up a bigger, independent forum at Diehards.org.

This isn't a place only for Vanguard account holders. It's for anyone who wants to know more about Vanguard founder Jack Bogle's eminently sensible investment philosophy: Keep your costs low, don't chase performance, focus on asset allocation rather than stock picking, and invest early and often.

Trying to make sense of your 401(k) plan's options? Post them on the board and you'll get ideas for building a simple, low-cost portfolio.

Want advice on trading currencies? The Bogleheads will politely talk you out of it. Yes, it's free advice from people you don't know, so take it with the appropriate grain of salt. But you could pay big bucks for far, far worse ideas.

For serious, long-term thinking from investment pros, check out the monthly commentaries from leading bond investor Bill Gross at Pimco.com, strategist Michael Mauboussin's quirky newsletter about investment thinking and psychology at leggmason.com/funds and the online journal from asset-allocation expert Bill Bernstein at EfficientFrontier.com.

Send feedback to Money Magazine To top of page

Photo Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.