I promised I would begin writing short screeds on this topic before the current market turmoil but I strongly think the advice holds true. For me this starts with Jack Bogle. He has his own site. Get his books from the local library and read them. I learned that fund picking for returns is impossible (the selection of funds in a 401(k) is out of one's hands) I decided simply to examine what funds might have the lowest costs. This is easy to do with a free membership at www.morningstar.com. Just type in the name of the fund and find and hit the portfolio button. The cost are typically expressed as a percent deducted every year. Once you know the costs of the funds at your disposal rank them by cost. Expect and hope to see funds from the Vanguard corporation. Choose the one with the lowest cost that has the broadest asset allocation. If more than one has very low costs then it begins to be interesting to think about asset allocation in more detail. Remember this is very long term money, invested for at least 20-30 years. So do not pay any attention to market turbulence.
I'll post this today. If I get questions or comments I'll write in more detail on the questions or try to explain some point in more detail.
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3 comments:
Hi Chris - I'm interested to learn about the difference between Roth IRA, traditional IRA, and company-provided 401k plans.
There is a great article on the Roth IRA, with comparisons to traditional IRA and 401(k) at wikipedia: link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roth_IRA
Hi BroInLaw- I maxed out my 401k this year, do you think I should get a roth before december? or leave my extra money in cash since my pay just got cut by 25%?
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