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Barbara Friedberg

Investing Expert Writer

About

Friedberg is a former investment portfolio manager, university finance instructor and author of three books including "Personal Finance; An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management." Her work has been featured in national investment publications such as Forbes Advisor, Investopedia, U.S.News and World Report, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates and InvestorPlace. She is a regular panelist on the Money Tree Investing Podcast and owns BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance.com.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in economics, Barbara Friedberg began investing to build wealth and turn her family’s earnings into future wealth. She studied investment theory and practice and served as an investment portfolio manager for a real estate holding company for several decades. She is a value-oriented investor and bought and sold individual stocks and fixed income assets on behalf of the company. Barbara consulted on real estate transactions and management for the firm and flipped real estate on the side.

After obtaining a master’s degree in business, with a focus on finance and investing, Barbara taught finance and investing classes at Santa Clara University and Lebanon Valley College.

In her desire to teach others how to build wealth with well-documented investment strategies she started her company, Wealth Media LLC. She created and manages BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance.com, where she instructs others in smart investing. She is the editor/author of “Personal Finance; An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management,” “Invest and Beat the Pros” and “How to Get Rich; Without Winning the Lottery.” Her RoboAdvisorPros.com website was recently sold.

For the past decade, Friedberg has written across the internet about investing, real estate and financial topics. She has been published and cited in major publications such as Money Magazine, Nasdaq.com, Investor’s Business Daily, Investopedia, The Balance, GoBankingRates, InvestorPlace, MSN Money, Entrepreneur along with Forbes Advisor. You can find her opining as a panelist on The Money Tree Investing Podcast on a regular basis.

In her spare time you’ll find Friedberg with a power tool in hand, upscaling her home and spending time with her husband, Bob, and daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Brandon.

Expertise

  • Investing expert
  • Index fund investing
  • Robo-advisors
  • Best investment platforms
  • Best ETFs
  • Best mutual funds
  • Real estate investing

Achievements

  • Decades of experience as an investment portfolio manager
  • Former university finance and investment instructor
  • Investment journalist for major publications across the web

Other Publications

Education

Penn State (MBA, Finance and Investing)

Miami University (M.S., Counseling and Student Personnel Management)

University of Cincinnati (B.S., Economics)

  • 7 Best Fidelity Mutual Funds Of 2024

    Fidelity Investments is one of the oldest U.S. mutual fund complexes. With $4.1 trillion in mutual fund net assets under management, it’s also one of the biggest players in the industry. Its roughly 450 mutual funds play a crucial role...
    7 Best Fidelity Mutual Funds Of 2024
  • 7 Best Charles Schwab ETFs Of May 2024

    Charles Schwab is one of the world’s leading financial services companies. It offers a niche selection of around 30 proprietary exchange-traded funds that run the gamut from passive index funds to international stocks, with a very strong focus on fundamental...
    7 Best Charles Schwab ETFs Of May 2024
  • Best SPDR ETFs Of May 2024

    State Street Global Advisors launched the world’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF)—the SPDR S&P 500 fund (SPY)—in 1993. Today, the firm offers about 200 of the most highly regarded ETFs on the U.S. market, an extensive line-up of low-fee funds that...
    Best SPDR ETFs Of May 2024
  • 7 Best Fidelity ETFs Of May 2024

    Fidelity Investments offers a compact selection of about 65 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. Its line-up includes both passive funds and actively managed ETFs, with a nod toward factor and theme investing. Investors can meet most of their ETF...
    7 Best Fidelity ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Vanguard ETFs Of May 2024

    Vanguard offers more than 80 exchange-traded funds in the U.S. tailored to a broad range of investment strategies and financial goals. From niche sector ETFs to total market equity funds, there are Vanguard ETFs designed to satisfy every investing preference....
    10 Best Vanguard ETFs Of May 2024
  • 7 Best iShares ETFs Of May 2024

    With more than 400 funds to choose from in the U.S., there’s something for every investor in the iShares ETF fund family. Financial services giant BlackRock launched the first iShares ETFs in 1996. Since then, it has become the largest...
    7 Best iShares ETFs Of May 2024
  • 7 Best Charles Schwab Mutual Funds Of May 2024

    Best known as a brokerage and fund supermarket, Schwab runs $699 billion worth of its own funds. That ranks the company among the 10 largest fund families in total net assets. That heft is the crux of Schwab’s ability to...
    7 Best Charles Schwab Mutual Funds Of May 2024
  • 6 Best Small-Cap Index Funds Of May 2024

    Small-cap stocks are among the most volatile equity investments, although they can reward investors with the potential for higher growth rates than their larger competitors. Over the longer term, small-cap index funds have delivered superior returns to their large-cap brethren....
    6 Best Small-Cap Index Funds Of May 2024
  • 6 Best Large-Cap Index Funds Of May 2024

    Buying large-cap stocks could be one of the safest equity investments offered by the stock market. Many if not most of these massive stocks provide decent dividends and growth potential, plus a lot less volatility than other corners of the...
    6 Best Large-Cap Index Funds Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Technology Mutual Funds Of May 2024

    Over the past 10 years, the technology sector has enjoyed stratospheric performance. You can’t even match the tech funds category with a typical S&P 500 index fund. But which individual technology mutual funds suits you best? We combed the tech...
    10 Best Technology Mutual Funds Of May 2024
  • Best Portfolio Management Apps Of May 2024

    Picking the right assets and aligning your allocation with your goals can be tough. An investing app for portfolio management can make that job a lot easier. Countless options are available, from simple free apps to relatively expensive, in-depth analysis...
    Best Portfolio Management Apps Of May 2024
  • 7 Best Volatility ETFs Of May 2024

    Stock prices rise and fall constantly, sometimes by a lot. That’s the nature of the stock market, and it’s also a good definition of volatility. Professional investors use volatility ETFs to profit from the endless churn of stock prices or...
    7 Best Volatility ETFs Of May 2024
  • 5 Best Currency ETFs Of May 2024

    Currency ETFs provide investors with a simple way to invest in foreign exchange markets, where traders bet on the performance of different international currencies. This sophisticated investment class is not for the faint of heart, and it demands a good...
    5 Best Currency ETFs Of May 2024
  • 6 Best ETFs For Inflation Of May 2024

    Predicting which individual stocks and market sectors will outperform during periods of rising prices can be tricky. Thankfully, there are well-diversified exchange-traded funds (ETFs) specifically designed to help you cope with the impact of high inflation on your investment portfolio....
    6 Best ETFs For Inflation Of May 2024
  • 7 Best Balanced ETFs Of May 2024

    Finding the right balance of assets for your portfolio is at the heart of investing. Balanced funds offer an easy shortcut, providing a professionally managed, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and other assets in a single low-cost fund. Our list...
    7 Best Balanced ETFs Of May 2024
  • 7 Best Dividend ETFs Of May 2024

    Rising interest rates have sent bond prices into the tank, leaving dividend stocks as a preferred alternative. But dividend ETFs make it even easier to own a diversified portfolio of great dividend stocks than buying each stock individually. Forbes Advisor...
    7 Best Dividend ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Bond ETFs Of May 2024

    Bonds are a core component of any well-diversified investment portfolio. Their role is two-fold: To generate income and bolster returns during market declines. In 2022, bonds reminded investors of their utility as shock-absorbers, with most fixed income categories losing less...
    10 Best Bond ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best ETFs Of May 2024

    Selecting the ten best exchange-traded funds from a pool of thousands is akin to picking the ten most beautiful beaches on earth. There are too many to choose from, and everyone has their own unique preferences. Forbes Advisor tackled this...
    10 Best ETFs Of May 2024
  • The Best Value ETFs Of May 2024

    Value exchange-traded funds simplify the challenging, research-intensive process of finding stocks that are underpriced by markets. Value stocks trade at prices below their perceived intrinsic value, which is just another way of saying that they can be great bargains. Our...
    The Best Value ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Growth ETFs Of May 2024

    Growth ETFs can save you precious research time by bundling together many high-growth assets into one easy to buy ETF. Growth ETFs come with impressively high long term returns that make these an attractive set-it-and-forget-it option. It’s difficult to predict...
    10 Best Growth ETFs Of May 2024
  • 9 Best Long-Term Bond ETFs Of May 2024

    Long-term bond ETFs own diversified portfolios of bonds with maturities of 10 years or longer. Our list of the best long-term bond ETFs can also help you find ETFs whose decent yields—ranging from above 3% to around 6%—can help you...
    9 Best Long-Term Bond ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Short-Term Bond ETFs Of May 2024

    To help investors make the most of their fixed income allocation, Forbes Advisor has created this list of the best short-term bond ETFs. You’ll find a range of funds spanning extremely short maturities of less than a year up to...
    10 Best Short-Term Bond ETFs Of May 2024
  • 10 Best Actively Managed ETFs Of May 2024

    Actively managed ETFs are exchange-traded funds that give investors the chance to beat the market rather than being the market. Passively managed index funds often outperform their actively managed competitors, but on occasion an active ETF hits it out of...
    10 Best Actively Managed ETFs Of May 2024
  • The Best ESG Funds Of May 2024

    While some critics condemn ESG funds as “woke” investing, regular investors' appetites remain strong for these funds, which consider the environmental, social and governance factors of a portfolio's companies along with the companies' financial fundamentals. To help you find the...
    The Best ESG Funds Of May 2024
  • 9 Best Real Estate ETFs Of May 2024

    Buying real estate ETFs—often in the form of REITs—is an easy and affordable path to exposing your portfolio to the real estate market. Since REITs are required by law to pay out 90% of their taxable income annually, these funds...
    9 Best Real Estate ETFs Of May 2024
  • Best Inverse ETFs Of 2024

    Inverse ETFs aim for performance that is the mirror-image opposite of their target, customarily an index. Their investments are reset daily. They typically make hefty use of borrowing, which is how they achieve multiples of inverse performance. But that multiplies...
    Best Inverse ETFs Of 2024
  • 10 Best Real Estate Mutual Funds Of May 2024

    Real estate is a reliable asset class commonly found in diversified investment portfolios. While real estate mutual funds don't lead in price appreciation or income generation among Morningstar fund categories, they provide an excellent balance of both over time. Currently,...
    10 Best Real Estate Mutual Funds Of May 2024
  • 10 Best High-Yield Bond Funds Of May 2024

    In a world of ever-evolving financial landscapes, the quest for reliable income and capital growth is a constant pursuit for investors. Enter the high yield bond fund—an investment option that promises impressive cash flow, a relatively high degree of price...
    10 Best High-Yield Bond Funds Of May 2024
  • Best Total Bond Market Index Funds Of 2024

    You know you should be investing in fixed income, but the bond market can be a challenging puzzle for many people. Choosing a total market bond index fund is an easy way to answer this riddle. When you own shares...
    Best Total Bond Market Index Funds Of 2024
  • Best Total Stock Market Index Funds Of May 2024

    Not every total stock market fund is the same—different funds track different underlying indexes, and they employ varying methodologies to mirror the U.S. stock market. Forbes Advisor has analyzed dozens of options to build this list of the best U.S....
    Best Total Stock Market Index Funds Of May 2024
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Top Picks From Barbara Friedberg

  • 7 Best Balanced ETFs Of May 2024
    7 Best Balanced ETFs Of May 2024

    by Barbara Friedberg

    Read More

  • 10 Best Growth ETFs Of May 2024
    10 Best Growth ETFs Of May 2024

    by Barbara Friedberg

    Read More

  • The Best Value ETFs Of May 2024
    The Best Value ETFs Of May 2024

    by Barbara Friedberg

    Read More

About

Friedberg is a former investment portfolio manager, university finance instructor and author of three books including "Personal Finance; An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management." Her work has been featured in national investment publications such as Forbes Advisor, Investopedia, U.S.News and World Report, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates and InvestorPlace. She is a regular panelist on the Money Tree Investing Podcast and owns BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance.com.