Index Funds vs. ETFs

fly

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Oct 1, 2004
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So FG had mentioned ETFs the other day to me, when I mentioned index funds generally being the best investment. I had heard the term but had never really looked into what they were. I read up on them and they sounded pretty interesting. I was even thinking of maybe rolling part of my old 401k into one.

Now WSJ has come out with an article about index funds vs. ETFs...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117803002196288190.html?mod=todays_us_nonsub_journalreports&apl=y
“The margins of victory for the top performers in each of the four categories may seem small at first glance -- about 0.05 percentage point in many years. But compounded over time, they are significant.
Take an investor who has a nest egg of $250,000. If that money is put into one of the lowest-cost S&P 500 funds, the sum would turn into $4,877,444 in 30 years, assuming a 10.5% gross return each year in line with the broader market's historical average.
On the other hand, if the fund returns 10.45% a year, the investor would end up with $4,811,615, about $66,000 less.”

Can anyone find the WHOLE article?
 
You have me interested now.

After reading up a bit I came up with:
- Sometimes more tax efficient than mutual funds
- Some online brokers will not charge commissions on them (actually websites have conflicting information about this)
- Offers stock-like features
- Ability to buy and sell throughout the day

...still reading...
 
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You could buy todays WSJ? :lol:

I think I just read wikipedia and looked up the companies offering these things :o
 
just emailed a buddy who has a subscription to the hard-copy of the WSJ. i'll see if he has a login. I'd like to read it too. I've been interested in ETF's for a while and will probably be starting to invest within the next year or two.
 
Interesting house. Where is it at in Fort Worth? (I went to TCU)

I'm also glad to see you were watching hockey.
this is precisely why i don't like hosting things for forums.

if you had to use the bathroom and i let you in my house, would you then go check out my underwear drawer?