Stocks & Bonds

Our Practical Investor's Portfolio

Columnist Kathy Kristof is putting her real money into the market so she can help you be a better investor.

Can a wise but moderately lethargic investor beat -- or at least equal -- the stock market? Kiplinger's columnist and author of Investing 101 Kathy Kristof aims to answer just that question with this practical investing project. She is taking $200,000 of her own money and dividing it into two pieces -- $10,000 going into Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ETF (symbol VTI), and the rest going into individual stocks that she selects.

SEE ALSO: Kiplinger's Model Portfolios

Each month, in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, we'll compare the results of the two portfolios with real numbers that reflect trading costs and taxes, describe Kathy's mistakes and her coups, and divulge new additions to and subtractions from the portfolios. (She plans to focus on U.S. firms, but she may occasionally invest in foreign stocks.) See her previous columns:

And in the table below, keep track of her portfolio's performance. (Total shares owned are current as of December 9. Also, note that when Kathy made her purchases on October 27, VTI was valued at $65.89 a share.)

Contact Kathy directly at practicalinvesting@kiplinger.com or via Twitter @KathyKristof.