A California native transplanted in southern Illinois.This morning, I discovered that Admiral shares are not available in Simple IRAs! Hmmmmph. So I am just sticking with the Target Retirement fund. Oh well, it isn't as if the TR fund is expensive. At .21, it is one-fifth the cost of the American Funds TR I had at Edward Jones. And of course, I have escaped that nasty front-end load. All in all, still very pleased to have moved my Simple to my beloved Vanguard. Now to get my contributions (via payroll deduction) flowing into my new Simple regularly. My boss still has not cut a check to Vanguard. I didn't want to have to ask, but here we are. I know he does payables on or near the 15th. I am all set up, so I want my contributions deposited promptly.
Remember when I cancelled my land line a few months back? Remember my saying I must have overpaid my last bill because AT& T sent me a check for $.05? Well, I have receieved another check marked "overpayment refund", this time for $3.99. I'm not complaining, but I really don't know how that is possible. I have added it to CurveBall.
No Admiral Shares in Simples
May 18th, 2012 at 08:59 pm
May 18th, 2012 at 09:46 pm 1337377619
Secondly I was wondering what is the difference between the Edward Jones Target Retirement Fund and the Target Retirement Fund you did end up going with? Was it the markup that I presume Edward Jones has, or is it something more. I am not savvy on Edward Jones, but I have heard from a former Merrill Lynch employee to stay away from Merrill Lynch so I have.
As you can see I am a newbie investor. Admiral shares are over my head, but the other 2 questions I think I can handle. Thanks in advance.
May 18th, 2012 at 11:46 pm 1337384780
Simple IRAs are employer plans, similar to a 401k. Inside my Simple IRA, I have a Target Retirement Fund. Yes, you have it right, it is one of those 2020, 2030 types.
Edward Jones is a commisioned brokerage house. The Target Retirement Fund I had there wasn't so much bad as it was too expensive. Over time, those expenses can take a huge bite out of your investment. Also, it was an actively managed fund. I prefer index funds.
Vanguard has very low costs on all of their funds. The regular shares are called Investor shares. Some of their funds have another share class called Admiral shares, and those are even cheaper. You must have at least 10k in the fund to qualify for Admiral. I didn't know that Admiral shares are not available at all for Simple IRAs. But alas, that has turned out to be the case.
Thanks for reading! And remember, we are all newbies at some point.
May 20th, 2012 at 12:03 am 1337472188