You have heard about a particular mutual fund from a friend, saw it advertised on TV or read about it in some publication thought it would be a good buy. Next you call your broker to get his advice before you buy because he is an expert and is there to help you make money.
"Hello, Billy Sol (see Billy Sol Estes on Google), this is Joe Mushroom and I want to buy some XYZ mutual fund. What do you think?"
"Joe, I was just thinking about you and was going to call you, but first let me look up XYZ for you. Uh oh! Joe it has a high expense ratio of about 1 ? per cent. I would not recommend that for you."
Billy Sol fails to mention that XYZ has no load (that's commission) so he would not make any money if you bought it. There are thousands of excellent no-load funds that outperform the load funds. Billy Sol says the fund his brokerage company recommends is ABC and again fails to mention it has a 5% load (commission) and goes on to paint a beautiful picture of ABC and how well it has done in the past 5 and 10 year period. Furthermore the expense ratio is only one per cent which is savings of 33%.
WOW! Joe thinks that sounds pretty good so he lets Bill Sol buy ABC instead of XYZ. Let's see what really happened.
Joe saves ? percent per year on the expense ratio, but pays and extra 5% up front. Maybe I'm wrong, but if you divide ?% in 5% that goes 10 time. In other words it is going to take Joe Mushroom 10 years to makeup that 5% commission charge not counting what that 5% charge would have made if it had been working in Joe's account for that 10 year period.
What it boils down to is never pay commission for any mutual fund. If the broker will not sell you a no-load fund then get another broker. He is not trying to help you make money. He is trying to make money for himself and his company and may tell you his company does not carry a particular fund because they don't think it is a good. Hog wash. Another broker lie. It is your money and you are entitled to buy any fund. Go to a discount broker who handles that fund and open an account. It will save you a bundle over the years and they are as safe an any big-name broker.
Advice from a financial planner is no better if he is making commissions. The smart method is to have a fee based broker who has a winning track record. Have any financial planner show you his model account. He should have one or maybe several model portfolios. Unless they make money every year he is not a successful money advisor. Don't let them hoodwink you about their performance "is better than the S&P500". That's nonsense. You want to see a cash increase every year.
The first and basic rule is never pay commissions for any mutual fund.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
post construction cleaning Deerfield ..Every day in any financial publication you will find the... Read More
Investing in long-term financial vehicles give you the most gains... Read More
Fundamental analysis.Fundamentals analysis says the best way to predict the... Read More
I often play a little game with myself when I... Read More
Before we get into all the good news out there,... Read More
If you have been watching the stock market at all... Read More
Every day I see in the financial section of newspapers... Read More
What account size do I need?How much money can I... Read More
Several times each month I am solicited by various market... Read More
When we go to the circus we see a trapeze... Read More
This article describes the model of a natural relationship between... Read More
Unfortunately, most of you who are reading my column are... Read More
I'll bet with almost anyone that has stocks or mutual... Read More
There has been great condemnation recently because China has been... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
AS BUILDERS BEGIN WORK ON THE FREEDOM TOWER in New... Read More
Most people think the stock market is a zero sum... Read More
The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More
So you're started trading, you bought some positions with your... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
Picking a beaten-down stock requires a different kind of selection... Read More
Should the market turn against you, it is important that... Read More
Being wrong is OK, but let's not carry it to... Read More
For some "long term" would mean holding a stock position... Read More
You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately,... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Bannockburn ..Money management starts with protecting your capital, realizing profits and... Read More
What are you thinking when it comes to your no... Read More
That sounds like good advice doesn't it? Don't lose all... Read More
One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't... Read More
The spring-loaded rat catcher is the ultimate low-tech device invented... Read More
Hedge current portfolio positions and gain access to capital resources... Read More
What account size do I need?How much money can I... Read More
We learnt the following the hard way! If any of... Read More
With the stock market stubbornly refusing to settle down and... Read More
I made my very first investment in the stock market... Read More
Have you been listening to the talking heads on CNBC-TV?... Read More
Success in small cap & micro cap stock trading like... Read More
When you become interested in a stock or mutual fund... Read More
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are a group of passive index... Read More
Now that you have some money burning a hole in... Read More
The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
Mutual fund investing is a lot like Thai cooking. Everyone... Read More
Today we are inundated with tons of information about the... Read More
A stock market index is a statistical measure of changes... Read More
The Shadow knows. There used to be a radio program... Read More
You'd have had to be living on a desert island... Read More
Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor.... Read More
There are many important things you need to know to... Read More
Carefully thinking through your goal as a trader is of... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |