I wager some of my retirement funds that many of you saw the PBS Frontline special, "The Retirement Gamble" when it first aired last spring or maybe when it was rebroadcast last week. Here's a link to it:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/retirement-gamble/the-retirement-gamble-facing-us-all/
It got me mad (as usual) and got me thinking about my own mutual fund holdings and how badly I've probably been stung by the fees. I just did a cost comparison from one of my American Century holdings with a Vanguard Index fund. Now granted, this is Vanguard's site, but if it's near accurate, American Century, whose fees are ranked "below average" is costing me a lot of money. A lot of money.
I'm wondering about how I sweat the small stuff, like the price of coffee, yet these fees, which seem to have little if any relation to performance, are costing me tens of thousands. It sort of makes me sick.
I suppose I'm the only ding-dong here who isn't in all low-expense ratio funds?
Mutual Fund Fees
November 1st, 2013 at 09:00 pm
November 2nd, 2013 at 06:56 am
November 2nd, 2013 at 08:50 am
November 2nd, 2013 at 09:03 am
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:11 am
November 2nd, 2013 at 12:16 pm
November 2nd, 2013 at 04:37 pm
You may want to research your 401k options. A little known option in our plan is that we can have up to 50% of the total invested in a Charles Schwab account. Because the 401k is managed by JP Morgan, they don't advertise this and they make it difficult to transfer money to the Schwab account, but it can be done over the phone. Once I did that, all the Vanguard funds (as well as stocks, etc.) became available to me.
November 2nd, 2013 at 11:23 pm
November 3rd, 2013 at 08:18 am
November 3rd, 2013 at 12:22 pm
November 3rd, 2013 at 01:11 pm
Edited to add that my bf's mother was unscathed in the 2008 stock market downturn so her manager did well in preserving and growing her wealth.
November 3rd, 2013 at 05:26 pm
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34227_162-57578427/how-index-and-active-funds-stack-up/
While some funds do better some years, it's hard to beat that percentage and I'm (obviously) not that good at picking which fund will do well every year. And my relatively simple mutual fund portfolio is probably a great deal different than the portfolios of rich folks who need to think about different tax implications.
Not to doubt your boyfriend's mother, but among the people I knew in brokerage, people tended to talk about their wonderful gains a heck of lot more than they talked about their losses.
November 3rd, 2013 at 06:20 pm
November 3rd, 2013 at 10:11 pm