Spare Change

Market Tip

The year so far hasn’t given investors much to cheer about, but there is a bright spot that’s easily overlooked: a falling price-to-earnings ratio that shows investors now face considerably less risk than they have in recent years. That suggests improving prospects for stock gains, since investor demand for stocks goes up — driving share prices up — when risk is seen to be low.

Bookshelf

A number of good books relating to investing have been published over the past year or so, including:

“”Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations” by David Warsh

“”Competition Demystified” by Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn

“”Fortune’s Formula” by William Poundstone

Wise Planning

Call it “do-it-yourself retirement.” As 401(k)s, employee stock-purchase plans, IRAs and other defined- contribution programs supplant the old-fashioned company pension, more of the work that employees must do to choose retirement investments is being taken out of their hands. Some of the 401(k) features you’re likely to see more of include automatic enrollment, automatic savings increases tied to raises and target-date mutual funds, which have exploded in popularity.

Money Tip

Mid-year is a good time for a personal-finance review. Start by: ordering your free credit reports at www.annual creditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228; updating your homeowner’s insurance to reflect rising property values and higher-cost building materials; making your cash work harder by seeking out yields on bank accounts in the range of 4 to 5 percent.