Here's a guide to the 10 articles on our site that readers like best.

Whenever you find an article on our web site, you can be sure it’s there because we think investors can benefit from it – and because we hope they will. We work hard to bring you news and views you won’t find elsewhere.

We think our “must-read” articles, featured in a box on our home page, contain the guidance and advice that will make the most difference to you.

But it’s also important for you to know what other real-world investors and readers find most beneficial. Our site lets readers rate articles on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. This is valuable feedback for us and good guidance for you when you’re looking for articles that are likely to be worth your time.

What follows is a list of the 10 most popular articles on our site. I’ve put them in order of the number of overall votes. Every one has earned the highest possible rating from our readers.

Chances are good that you’ll find at least one article on this list that you haven’t read. I hope you’ll vote on each one you read. The short amount of time you spend on this is a favor to us – and to other investors. 

No. 1: “The ultimate buy-and-hold strategy”
     
It’s no surprise that this article has by far the highest number of readers’ votes. Of all the articles we’ve written, this one seems to have the biggest impact in two critical areas. First, it lays out our investment philosophy and makes it relatively easy to understand how to put together a world-class portfolio. Second, it is powerful enough to motivate many investors to take action and make changes that are likely to make their money work harder for them. Once you master the handful of simple concepts in this article, you’ll understand investing better than 90 percent of all investors ever do. If it’s been awhile since you read this, I hope you’ll check it out to see some important changes we made early in 2007.

No. 2: “Ten retirement lessons from the smartest people I know”
     
I’m delighted that hundreds of our readers have liked this article enough to give it the highest rating – which I think it deserves. First published in Southern California Senior Life, this article allowed me to distill a great deal of wisdom I’ve picked up over the years from successful, happy people. Don’t wait until you’re retired to read it. And by the way, the smartest people aren’t always the ones with the most money.

No. 3: “Fine-tuning your asset allocation”
     
Probably the biggest job every investor must do is manage risk. If you take too much risk, you could be flirting with disaster. If you take too little risk, you might cheat yourself out of the returns you need to take care of yourself, your family and your heirs. In this article, which we update annually, I show you how to use real-life numbers to get this equation right.

No. 4: “The best mutual funds: DFA or Vanguard?”
     
The first and third articles on this list tell you what kind of assets to invest in. This one focuses on the best places to actually get those assets. To state that another way, the first and third articles are about defining the job that you need done; this one is about getting the best tools to do that job. I’ve said for more than a decade that Dimensional Fund Advisors has the best mutual funds in the world for investors who use professional advisors. And I’ve thought for many years that do-it-yourself investors will do best at Vanguard. Here I compare and contrast these two great fund families.

No. 5: “One portfolio for life?”
     
Many investors are captivated by the lure of a “set-it-and-forget-it” lifetime plan that requires little or no maintenance. In this article, I team up with FundAdvice.com Managing Editor Richard Buck to examine an asset allocation strategy that could be suitable for many investors from age 21 to 91.

No. 6: “The perfect portfolio”
     
Great chefs know it takes more than the right ingredients to make an extraordinary meal. If you put everything together in just the right way, ordinary ingredients can turn into magic. The same thing can work for investors. The title of this article says it well. Jeff Merriman-Cohen, my son and the chief executive officer of our company, describes a process he used when he was working directly with clients. It’s the best and easiest description I’ve seen of how to reduce risk through smart diversification.

No. 7: “Retirement: When your portfolio starts paying you”
     
When you retire, you must make a few major decisions that will determine the bulk of your financial future. In this article we examine two of those issues in depth to understand the tradeoffs. If you have more money than you can ever imagine spending, you don’t need this article. Otherwise, I hope you’ll read it.

No. 8: “Retirees: Earn lower returns. Have more money.”
     
The irony of this topic is reflected in the title. When you retire and start taking out money for living expenses, you need that money to last and to keep up with inflation. That can be a tall order if you invest too aggressively. In this article I show you why it’s crucial to invest in the lowest-risk assets that are likely to produce the return you need. You may be surprised at what you learn.

No. 9: “My 500-year estate plan”
     
My estate plan is designed to give my assets a very long and useful life after my own life eventually ends. I’ve shared it here and in a separate chapter of my book “Live It Up without Outliving Your Money” in order to stimulate parents and grandparents to think outside the usual boxes in estate planning. The article could be particularly helpful for parents who want to do something financially meaningful for their children besides leaving them a big check.

No. 10: “Superior diversification on a shoestring budget?”
     
This is one of my favorite articles for investors who are just getting started and those who may be starting over. If you don’t have much money, it’s impossible to achieve the wide diversification that we believe is so important. So what do you do? Here you’ll find a step-by-step plan for solving this very common problem.

Once you have taken what you need from these articles, I hope you’ll do one more thing. Please give this list to somebody else who could benefit from it.