Which Broker? You Don't Need One

Filed under: Investing  | Keywords: ,

When people start investing outside their 401k or 403b plan for the first time, their very first question is often "Which broker?" The answer should be "You don't need one."

Vanguard is a great choice for beginning investors (and seasoned investors!), but Vanguard is not a broker. It's a mutual fund company. Vanguard has a brokerage subsidiary, but it is primarily a mutual fund company.

What's the difference between a mutual fund company and a brokerage firm then?

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3 Reminders About Year-End Mutual Fund Distributions

Filed under: Investing, Taxes  | Keywords: , , ,

I wrote on Tuesday that I bought PIMCO CommodityRealReturn Strategy Fund D (PCRDX) on Dec. 5, 2008. It's a good segue to today's post. As luck had it, only a few days later, my jaw dropped when I saw the price of the fund dropped 25% in one day.

PCRDX20081210

It turned out it was just some year-end distributions. You probably heard or read about the usual advice "don't buy a fund distribution" or more generically "don't buy a dividend." So how do fund distributions affect investors? What exactly is so bad about buying a distribution?

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