Piggy Bank Award: Index funds vs. market dizziness
Tess Vigeland: And finally we present this week’s Marketplace Money Piggy Award. Our little blue, plastic friend is heading to Rochester, N.Y., and listener Tom Bigongiari. He wrote us with a couple of questions that made us wonder if he just might be pig-needy. So we called him up.
Tom Bigongiari: My questions were, how can I spend less time fixated on the markets, how to not worry about my financial future and how to enjoy myself a little bit more, given that I’m pretty comfortable financially?
Vigeland: Well, let’s start with the first question. You told us you spend a lot of time watching the day-to-day gyrations of the market. What do you think you need to change?
Bigongiari: To be honest, I think I need therapy (laughs). I could probably invest in an index fund and get better returns than I get by trading 500 times a year.
Vigeland: Well there you go. You answered your own question. And you told us you’re a money hoarder and you’re not really sure what you’re saving for. What would you rather do with your money? Do you have any dreams?
Bigongiari: If I could do anything I wanted, I would open a theatre and do live shows. A real money-making venture.
Vigeland: Is there anything perhaps on a smaller scale you could do?
Bigongiari: Well, instead of giving away money, which I do on a really small scale, I would rather find opportunities to travel and do service work.
Vigeland: Well, these are all great questions, and I want you to keep thinking about them. In the meantime you are this week’s winner of the Marketplace Money Piggy Award. It has slots where you can save, spend, invest and donate.
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