How -- and Whether -- to Read Your Prospectus

I'll let you in on a dirty little secret.

There's something I'm really supposed to do that I don't.

At my portfolio's peril, claim the finger-wagging experts, I don't read the prospectus. At least not cover-to-cover.

And I bet I'm not alone. C'mon -- admit it. Do you glance at the garble of dense legalese, then guiltily file that prospectus away in your "To Do" folder, where it will never surface again? ...