Redscape - View topic - Things to Look for in a "Good" Mutual Fund?

Things to Look for in a "Good" Mutual Fund?

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Yes, Prime Minister
Adjutant

Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:47 pm

I recently switched banks. $@#! (which I used to like) is now levying a $9.50 per month fee on my checking account, since I have a combined balance of less than $1,500.00. A-holes. I was happily surprised to find out mere mortals could open accounts with USAA Federal Savings Bank, not just active duty military or veterans (though there are certain features and products reserved for the vets/active duty that I can't have). And I was even more pleased to find out they offered a Roth IRA with more than reasonable terms (ie, no fee or ridiculous minimums).

So I opened a Roth IRA with USAA, and I was wondering, what does one look for in a really "good" mutual fund? I've already set one up and I hope it's the right one. I have some investment knowledge in this area, and I hope I didn't just buy a lemon, so to speak. Who else is in mutual funds?

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"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
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posts: 475 | location: Sykesville, Maryland, USA | joined: 09 Sep 2006

geojanes
Dignitary

Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:37 pm

Yeah, a bank charged me a fee once many years ago. I switched banks within days. Paying bank fees is crazy.

Past performance doesn't really mean anything regarding the future performance of a mutual fund, so if you go around chasing funds that perform well, you may be buying into a fund that's inflated. Focus on what's in your control, and that's cost. Most of my funds are with Vanguard because they have the lowest cost mutual funds. Most of those funds are index funds, because they have the lowest cost of the Vanguard funds. Why are their costs low? You can read more here if you're interested: https://personal.vanguard.com/jumppage/simpletruths/partner.html

posts: 1290 | location: New York, NY | joined: 01 Oct 2000 | medals: 2

pintoski
Foreign Minister

Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:01 pm

don't know the states well but one of the better funds in canada is managed by tdcanada trust. they have branches in the states (i believe it's simply "td" there).

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posts: 2841 | location: The Great White North | joined: 11 Jul 2002 | medals: 2

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