Well, actually, the quotes are just from me. I was reading Gregory Karp's Spending Smart blog today and I left two comments which I am re-using in order to pad my blog postings. (A writer should always recycle for maximum value out of his/her words.)

First, Karp is carping (that was too easy) about the fact that actively-managed mutual funds rarely outperform index funds, especially over the long term, and their fees make them a bad idea for that reason. He uses the example that Bill Miller of Legg mason will not beat the indexes this year for the first time after a 15-year streak of beating them. My thoughts:

I'm sure you're right overall, but Bill Miller's ride is pretty impressive. The question would be, how does he stack up against the indexes after the bad year in 2006? Would a lump sum invested 16 years ago be bigger today if it had sat in an index fund or if it had sat in Miller's fund, taking into account expenses as well as stock performance?

Also, Karp is writing a book on personal finance and asked for suggestions on topics he might cover. I commented on the question I can't get a good answer to:

I'd like to see a detailed analysis of buying versus leasing cars. I've always heard buying is better because you own something at the end, but oftentimes by the time you pay off a car it's almost worthless. Is leasing sometimes more cost-effective than buying, or never? For example, if someone had the money to buy a car completely in cash, or instead lease a car and use the big nest egg to invest, would that be a better decision?

If you're interested in helping him out, head over to his blog and tell him what you'd like to read about. Or tell me and leave him out entirely; I'll write my own book.