Index funds have made investing simple—but not easy.

These portfolios that seek to match, rather than beat, a market’s returns usually charge extremely low fees and generate low tax bills. If you buy a handful of index funds, sit on them for decades and never do another thing, you’re likely to outperform nearly everyone who tries to beat the market by trading—including most professionals.

But what’s the fun in that? Can you endure a lifetime of barbecues and cocktail parties where other people brag about their winning trades and all you can do is mutter, “Umm, I own index funds and I haven’t made a trade in a decade”?

Below, some of the best analysis and insight from WSJ writers and columnists, the Dow Jones Newswires team and occasionally beyond, on investing, the wealth-management business and more.

The tried-and-true 60/40 portfolio and 4% withdrawal rate in retirement could lead to ‘catastrophic’ outcomes if markets behave differently than in the past.

From Dow Jones Newswires

Despite weakness in Canada's financial sector in 2Q, the country's corporations reported a C$2.4 billion, or 1.5%, increase in pretax income for the period to C$163.2 billion. Statistics Canada data shows increased revenue contributed to the rise in income for the non-financial sector, buoyed by results from pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, and the soap, agricultural chemicals, paint and other chemical product manufacturing industry. Income in the financial sector fell C$894 million overall to C$48.3 billion, led by falls in the banking and other depository credit intermediation industry. ([email protected]; @RobbMStewart)

U.K. consumers seemed to have anticipated the Bank of England's interest-rate cut, with the latest GfK consumer confidence index unchanged in August after improving by one point in July, says Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior U.K. economist at Capital Economics, in a note. Interviewing for this month's data was conducted between Aug. 1 and 15 and the BOE cut its key rate on Aug. 1, he says in a note. However, BOE rate cuts should help to improve consumers' confidence, "even if there is some volatility in the month-to-month readings." Rising real earnings, which look set to continue as inflation remains well below wage growth--will also help confidence to rise, he says. ([email protected])

In Schwab’s annual survey, respondents say it takes $2.5 million to be considered wealthy, $300,000 more than last year.

An AI land grab is lifting shares of the centers’ landlords, like Equinix, after years of mediocre rent growth.

Long-shelved capital-intensive green-energy projects could be dusted off for construction to begin—if everything goes right.

With AI regulation at an embryonic stage, companies are charting their own course in creating audio and video avatars, cognizant of the legal hazards. ‘It’s a minefield right now,’ says one executive.

Traveling with no itinerary offers pleasures that you can’t get with carefully managed trips. But spontaneity requires an open mind—and an ability to accept occasional disappointments.

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The Wealth Adviser Briefing covers topics of interest to wealth managers, financial planners and other advisers. The content is curated by the Dow Jones Newswires team using articles from the Newswires, Barron's, MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal. The briefing is delivered to subscribers by email each workday morning at 6:30 a.m. ET. You can sign up here for email delivery. 

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