[Updated in August 2018 after Fidelity lowered fees and removed minimum investments on its index funds.] What are the best index funds and ETFs for long-term investors using Fidelity? I have more money in Fidelity accounts than in Vanguard [...]
Will Other Brokers Match Vanguard and Make All ETFs Commission-Free?
Online brokers are in a very competitive space. When Charles Schwab lowered its online trading commission from $8.95 per trade to $6.95 in 2017, within days Fidelity lowered its commission from $7.95 to $4.95. That led Schwab to cut a second round [...]
TD Ameritrade Commission-Free ETFs Going Much Worse
Since 2010, TD Ameritrade offered commission-free trades on a list of 101 ETFs. Because those ETFs were selected by Morningstar, they had a level of objectivity. The list included over 30 ETFs from Vanguard and over 40 ETFs from iShares, the two [...]
Vanguard Proxy Voting 2017
I received an email from Vanguard asking me to vote on some proxy proposals. As a responsible shareholder I read the proxy statement and I cast my votes. I'm recording my votes here for future reference. I'm not trying to influence your votes. I [...]
Now With Small Caps: New Fidelity International Stock Index Fund
[Updated in August 2018.] If you invest in a Fidelity account, the international stock index fund of choice had been Fidelity Global ex U.S. Index Fund (FSGDX). With an expense ratio of only 0.06%, this fund holds over 2,000 stocks from both [...]
Mutual Fund Or ETF Dividend Frequency and Compounding
Over on the Bogleheads forum, for a short while, a number of posters were wondering why they didn't see a dividend posted from certain Fidelity funds. Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index Fund, for example, typically pays dividend twice a year in [...]
Who Manages Your Investments Versus Who Manages Your Accounts
Your investments and your accounts are two different concepts. You don't "buy" an IRA. Your IRA is an account, a container. Your mutual funds, ETFs, CDs, and so on are your investments. You buy investments inside the container. Likewise, who [...]
Is Morningstar Losing Relevance In An Indexing World?
I attended Morningstar's online conference for individual investors a little over a week ago. To be honest, I was disappointed. It made me question whether Morningstar is losing relevance to individual investors in an indexing world. If investing [...]
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: Primary and Alternate ETFs
I went through the questionnaire for Schwab's new robo-advisor product Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. There were 12 questions. The interface looked very good. Asset Classes Breakdown I answered the questions truthfully as myself. I was given this [...]
