| This is
a good question. If you want the one that
charges the lowest expenses, go with
Vanguard. But they have a minimum account
opening requirement of $3,000.
The Dreyfus Mid-Cap Index Fund (Class “R”
shares – no load and no 12b-1 fees), up 4.7%
so far this year as of May 2002 (while the
S&P 500 is down 5%) looks like a good
choice, with a minimum requirement of
$1,000, but has consistently lagged behind
the index because their management tries to
outperform the benchmark by only investing
in about half of the companies, just the
“best” ones.
So here are your other choices:
- AAL Mid Cap Index II
- California Investment Trust S&P Mid
Cap (no load)
- First American Mid Cap Index S
- Maxim Index 400
The California Investment Trust (best
choice, after all fees returned 16%, 10-year
annual average, as of 03-31-2002) has a
$5,000 minimum opening balance, but if you
use
- ScotTrade’s Mutual Fund Center
(8,000 funds)
www.scottrade.com 1-800-619-SAVE
- Fidelity’s Funds Network (4,500
funds)
http://personal400.fidelity.com/products/funds/
1-800-544-6666
then you can start with as little as $500
if you designate the account as an IRA or
Roth IRA (which you should do, of course).
Requirements change from time to time, so
inquire with the fund company or fund
network.
If you are starting with a lesser amount
in another investment, that will work too.
As you add to the account and it grows to
over $500, it’s easy to transfer to the fund
that you really wanted. Any mutual fund
company or broker will be happy to give you
an easy, short form to do an automatic
transfer.
I’ll repeat this from my closing of the
last chapter: Get started now, keep saving
and investing, and you will become wealthy.
This is the way it works for others, this is
the way it will work for you.
Other The Investing Secrets Topics:
-
Secrets of Stock Market Investing
- Which mid-cap index fund is the best
one?
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