Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with indexfunds

UK Pension with Worldwide Index Funds

lilyflower — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:10:00 -0800

UK Pension Filter: Is there a pension out there which will allow me to invest in the SSE Index, BSE Index and the Nasdaq/Dow Jones/S&P500 indexes? I want to move my pension away from one which is based on a fund managed by a company which charges me over 1% a year.

I would like to have a pension with minimum fees (such as a SIPP) which allows me to move my pension across from my previous provider. I would then like to buy Index Funds such as the SSE, BSE and NASDAQ/Dow Jones/S&P500.

I do not intend to pay any more into the pension for the foreseeable future, so monthly paying in fees do not concern me at this time.

I have looked at the Hargreaves Lansdown Vantage SIPP but they only offer stocks from the UK or USA. Does anyone know of a UK based pension which allows purchase of worldwide stocks through a SIPP with low fees?

I would also like the pension to allow me to start withdrawing it from the age of 55 if at all possible.

Further information: The pension is currently worth approx £15k and no payments have been made into it in the past financial year.

where to invest?

locoindio — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:09:38 -0800

so ive got like $3500 or so that i want to put into either a roth ira and some index funds.....or that id like to put all together in the market. there are these funds ive been reading about a little in the market itself that are labeled as 'safe' bets. they pay anywhere from 10-15% return and are pretty much all in energy, oil, gas, drilling, and that sort of thing. it's buy and hold on a smaller scale. anyway, that's one option and the other option is to just put the minimum in a roth and buy about a grand's worth of fidelity funds. my goals are to be able to help pay rent and to build small amounts of wealth. alright, lemme know what you think.

Help me choose an index fund.

Pontius Pilate — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:16:01 -0800

Help me choose an index fund and a financial institution. So, after reading all the helpful threads about the importance of Roth IRAs and and the benefits of investing in your retirement as early as possible, I am ready to take the plunge. I have about $2k to put away now, and I should easily be able to put away another $2k before next April to max out my Roth IRA contribution for this year.

The last step is selecting my financial institution and the particular index fund I'm going to invest in. From comparing rates and user reviews, I have heard good things about Vanguard, Sharebuilder, and Fidelity. However, I'm kind of a novice to investing, so I am not sure that I am absolutely fully aware of all the fine print and miscellaneous fees that will reduce my return. I would really like to hear people's personal experiences with these three companies (suggestions for other companies gladly welcomed, of course), and what has worked out best.

As far as index funds - I am starting out young, so I'm strongly considering something more aggressive than the standard S&P 500, DJIA, NASDAQ, etc. Would something like Emerging Market Value / Emerging Small Cap be appropriate? Would it be totally foolish of me to invest only in the higher-risk indices, ignoring the safer but lower-return conservative index funds?

Can Index Funds Beat Financial Advice?

philmas — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 04:47:27 -0800

Can a Portfolio of Index Funds perform as well as portfolio selected by a financial advisor (net of all fees), over the long-term? I've been using a full-service broker (Morgan Stanley) for the last couple of years and I realize that was not a good decision. It had to do with emotional family stuff. The performance has been pretty average and the broker charges 1% of the portfolio value annually. This fee is on top of the internal expenses of mutual funds, of course.

I want a portfolio that doesn't have to to be watched constantly, has the lowest fees possible, and produces average returns, at the very least. The point being, if I can match the returns I'm getting now (around 8%, net all fees) and not pay all of the fees why not go with Vanguard funds, for example? It would be great to hear from those who have had experience on both sides of this investing fence.

401K Investments

amberglow — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 20:03:16 -0800

InvestmentFilter: So I'm permanent now at work, and have to pick a 401k option. I don't think i'll be there for many years, and cashed out the last time I had one. (But then again, i'm older now, and 70 is only 31 years away).What do you guys suggest for a 1-3 year timeframe, 401k-wise, given the fluctuating market? (If I need to, I have absolutely no qualms about cashing out again, and have never had much faith in the market at all, in general.) oh, my first thought is not to do it all, and do Roth IRAs or something like that, but then i'd lose out on the matching funds (which kick in after 1 year there).