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Welcome to a special edition of the Markets A.M. newsletter featuring articles from today's Investing Monthly report. The report offers insights and advice for investors, as well as a look back at market highlights from October. In our featured article, former Wall Street Journal personal-finance columnist Jonathan Clements, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year, shares some final advice as he prepares his estate for his family.

Also featured: how to add commodities to your portfolio; a look at the market for collectible banknotes; and our Retirement Rookies try to cut out some unnecessary expenses.

This newsletter was compiled by WSJ Reports editor Brian Hershberg, or @brianhershberg on X. Read the full report here .

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Some Final Personal-Finance Advice From Columnist Jonathan Clements

Jonathan Clements, a longtime personal-finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal who might have just a year to live, shares the steps he is taking to make life easier on his wife and children .

Enjoying this newsletter? Get more from WSJ and support our journalism by subscribing today with this special offer .

How to Start Investing in Commodities

Investors need only a 2% to 10% allocation to commodities to benefit from the diversification they can bring to a stock-and-bond portfolio. Try a broad commodity ETF, experts say. How to Collect, and Profit From, Rare Currency

Rare and collectible banknotes can fetch more than face value-way more, in fact. Here's how to get started .

Parasitic Costs Plague Our Retitrement Rookies. Here's What They're Doing.

Retirement Rookies: Now that the Yoders aren't working, they've decided to review every credit-card transaction of the past year-and cancel as many recurring charges as possible . There were a lot.

How Undiagnosed Memory Loss Hits Seniors' Retirement Savings

Seniors who have suffered severe cognitive decline and were unaware of it saw their wealth decrease by about $31,000 on average, researchers said. Scams and bad stock-market bets are the likely culprits.

That Actively Managed Mutual Fund You're Paying For? It Looks Pretty Passive

Investors who are paying an extra percentage point or more a year for active management are basically getting the equivalent of lower-cost index funds.

Stock Funds Eased a Bit in October but Held On to Their Year-to-Date Gains

While the average U.S. stock fund fell 1% in October, the year-to-date return remains firmly in the black , at 14.9%. "The market seems to be shaking off any election results," says Rob Kantor, CIO and co-founder of XML Financial Group.

In Case You Missed It

Some stories from our Investing Monthly report in October

Which Bonds Should You Buy Now? Why These Muni Bond Investments Are Hot Right Now. Traveling in Retirement Is Great. Being at Home Is Harder. Which Countries Have the Strongest Stock-Market Returns? Guess Again About Us

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

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November 04, 2024 11:10 ET (16:10 GMT)

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