Finance, Forex and Investments

How are Vanguard Mutual Funds? Would investing in a Mutual Fund be wise given the economy?

And I have also heard some talk of this being a Double dip recession. How will that affect Mutual Funds?

Public Comments

1. I like Vanguard. They have low fees, which is one of the most important things to consider with mutual funds. Mutual funds are a long term investment. What is happening with the economy now or next year doesnt make any difference. Its whats going to happen ten years down the road that matters. And by then the economy will have changed a few times and probably be better than it is now. Even if we do have a double dip recession. As long as you have a long term time horizon mutual funds are a good investment. Dont invest for the long term with a short term perspective.
2. Vanguard has some of the lowest cost funds in the industry. Their index funds are many peoples funds of choice. There are two schools of thought selecting the best mutual fund. In one school the best mutual fund is the one with the best manager. The other school believes index funds are the best choice. Research shows that index funds outperform 80% of domestic stock funds. If we do have a double dip recession the stock market and most stock dependent investments will drop. I do not think that will happen.
3. Forget about "timing" the market for the best time to get in. Professionals can't do it. You shouldn't try. One thing is probably true... there may not be a better time to enter the market in the next ten years than right now. Back in February...... many people didn't get into stocks or stock funds because the time wasn't right. Now..... many Mutual Funds are up 25-50% higher than mid February. There may be a double dip recession, a nuclear attack (heaven forbid) or the best economic times ever. NO ONE KNOWS. Don't ever invest by what the "talking heads" say. It will destroy your portfolio. I don't even invest by what I "think". I invest by what I see. Vanguard is "OK"... Better than many other funds. I personally don't own them. Read: Mutual Funds For Dummies. Good luck!
4. How about an opposing view on this question. You have two answers describing how low cost Vanguard Funds are. They are if you invest at least $10,000. If you invest less than that they have an annual fee they charge you on each fund with less than $10,000 which drives up their expenses to that of other no load funds of a like nature. As for index funds what the others have said is correct. It just means that there are a lot of poorly managed funds out there. But geez the most popular index funds have not made investors any money for the last 10 years. Does not provide much of a recommendation for them and does make one wonder about their popularity. Vanguard has one fund in particular that I think might be a good investment going forward. Their Global Equity Fund. .
5. Vanguard is one of the better fund companies, it enjoys a well earned reputation and has been in business for many years through good times and bad. Without having more information about your personal information, such as age, current income and other data such as risk tolerance, martial status, and demographics it would be very inappropriate for me or any other responsible person to provide specific investment information in this type of media. And it would not be prudent for you to accept any specific investment advice from unknown individuals here at YA or a similar media. There are many people just like you that are, or were looking to invest and those that did bought Mutual Funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). One purpose of mutual funds is to help investors like you, who are either just entering the investment world or who have no investing experience. Once you feel you at least have an understanding of investments you should look into ETFs which are similar to mutual funds but are traded on the exchanges. Mutual Fund companies as well as ETFs have an entire array of products many will fit your needs. You can go to the MSN.Money website http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp it has an entire section on mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds. Read about the various products and in doing so you will be getting investment ideas and at the same time educating yourself about investing. You could also contact the funds companies for more information. I have found that Vanguard & Fidelity can meet your needs for mutual funds. The service and information they provide is all free and you will find it helpful. Regardless of what you decide, do not ever let anyone tell you not to invest, especially those that do not invest themselves. Good luck