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I’ve been trying to wrap up this onslaught of mutual fund posts for a week now and every time I try and get away, they keep pulling me back in.

The truth is there is so much to write about on the topic, that I keep coming up with new ideas for posts.

In an article I wrote about mutual fund hidden fees last week, I mentioned three tools that I find to be very useful. After that post, I decided to review, in depth, 2 of the 3 tools mentioned: the Kiplinger Fund Finder and PersonalFund’s Mutual Fund Cost Calculator.

I left out the FINRA Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer because I felt like it’s a watered down, less accurate version of the PersonalFund calculator. And I only wanted to examine, what I thought was, the best of breed.

Continue Reading “The difference between good and great”

As you know by now, mutual funds have hidden fees in the form of institutional brokerage commissions, that are passed on to fund investors.

In the previous post, I detailed how mutual funds pays their brokerage firm(s) a certain amount per share (i.e. 4 cents a share), to buy or sell stocks or bonds, in bulk.

These trading commissions are looked upon as ‘hidden costs’ because most investors are unaware of their existence and mutual funds are not required to tell you about them. And getting published information about the whereabouts of these fees is not easy.

Continue Reading “More on hidden fees- soft dollars anyone?”

I’m finally nearing the end of what was meant to be a one week gig. Somehow it’s turned into a fortnight, to borrow a British phrase used to describe Wimbledon.

I’m quite eager to move more into the ‘down home’ planning phase of the blog, over the coming month, but not before some hard hitting posts to end ‘mutual fund’ week. I’ve saved the best for last.

When I first wrote a piece on mutual funds, back in the beginning of August, I touched on the ‘mystery behind mutual funds’. Now it’s time to dive in head first and examine the murky world of mutual fund hidden fees. (I’m being a bit over dramatic for effect, after all, Halloween is next week)

Continue Reading “Mutual fund hidden fees- the biggest culprit is…”