choosing an investment management firm
 

so, i'm looking to start investing poker money and am trying to wrap my brain around some of the strategies discussed in this thread. i'm planning to deposit $20k or $25k in a month or so and then supplement it with $5k-$10k every month or two thereafter.

my question is simple: which company? i've seen vanguard mentioned. my dad suggested t. rowe price and one or two others that i'm having trouble remembering right now. i know nothing about any of these companies. what's the difference, and how should i decide?

thanks.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

Index funds are great because of low annual costs and low turnover (less tax).

You cant go wrong with vanguard. They are definitely one of the top index funds.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

Just index or use an hourly consultant.

Don't put your money in where they charge a %. Its the most retarded idea ever.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

you could also use a cheap brokerage like zecco to buy the ETFs of these funds for $0.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

[ QUOTE ]

Index funds are great because of low annual costs and low turnover (less tax).

You cant go wrong with vanguard. They are definitely one of the top index funds.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm confused. correct me if i'm being an idiot, but i thought vanguard was a firm that invests your money, and that index funds are one way in which they do so. vanguard itself isn't an index fund, am i wrong?

[ QUOTE ]

Just index or use an hourly consultant.

Don't put your money in where they charge a %. Its the most retarded idea ever.

[/ QUOTE ]

so to be clear, you'd suggest avoiding investment management firms altogether? how would you go about investing -- opening something like an etrade account and then personally sticking my money in two or three different index funds?

[ QUOTE ]
you could also use a cheap brokerage like zecco to buy the ETFs of these funds for $0.

[/ QUOTE ]

elaborate?

i apologize if i'm not making sense. i'm a noob.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

sorry, misread the post...

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

If you're going to be incrementally adding to positions over time then index mutual funds are fine since you won't pay commissions. Vanguard has all the index funds you would need, and they are about as cheap as you can get. The only question I would have about Vanguard (which I can't answer) is whether they help calculate your cost basis when you sell something because figuring it out yourself after putting money into a fund over many years is a real pain in the ass. If they don',t I'd rather open a brokerage account at Fidelity and buy their index funds plus whatever ETFs you need to round out your portfolio.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

To clarify for the OP: Vanguard is not an investment management firm, it's a mutual fund company. Some people here are advocating that you forget your idea of putting money with an investment management firm and just buy index mutual funds.

Index funds are for lazy people. If you're lazy, that may be the way to go. Or, you can save up in a money market fund for a year or so, and then find an investment management firm. Most of them won't take smaller amounts.

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

tannej,

I'm advocating you use someone who pays you for the time it takes to set efficient frontiers or whatever other planning service you need and then using Vanguard or Index funds to set the positions, instead of paying a company a fee for doing this stuff for you that will increase each year, while the quality of service you get will not. (Why should you pay 1% of 80 mil when other people pay 1% of 800k for the same service?)

Re: choosing an investment management firm
 

[ QUOTE ]
To clarify for the OP: Vanguard is not an investment management firm, it's a mutual fund company. Some people here are advocating that you forget your idea of putting money with an investment management firm and just buy index mutual funds.

Index funds are for lazy people. If you're lazy, that may be the way to go. Or, you can save up in a money market fund for a year or so, and then find an investment management firm. Most of them won't take smaller amounts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Vanguard is an investment management firm and one of the things they do is manage mutual funds.

I will repeat what was said above because it's good advice; low fees and low taxes. Index funds or ETFs are a pretty good choice for individuals. Vanguard is a low cost manager of index funds and they also manage some of the trusts that underly ETFs. They aren't the only one, but they are a good solid representative.