Index (mutual) funds

Big Business, Small Business, Investments, and Personal Finances
Post Reply
joey2000
Posts: 118
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:19 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by joey2000 »

Anyone a fan? I'm warming up to the idea....even possibly to the point of making most of my 401K index funds.
User avatar
Bryn Mawr
Posts: 16113
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:54 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by Bryn Mawr »

joey2000;1266863 wrote: Anyone a fan? I'm warming up to the idea....even possibly to the point of making most of my 401K index funds.


If by that you mean investments where the repayment is linked to the movement of a particular index (like the Dow or Nasdaq) then you're a little late :)
joey2000
Posts: 118
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:19 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by joey2000 »

No idea what you mean by "repayment" or being "late" - ?
User avatar
Bryn Mawr
Posts: 16113
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:54 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by Bryn Mawr »

joey2000;1266877 wrote: No idea what you mean by "repayment" or being "late" - ?


Repayment being the amount the fund pays out and late as in you should have been in nine months ago.
joey2000
Posts: 118
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:19 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by joey2000 »

Repayment has nothing to do with being/not being an index fund.

And I give up: what happened 9 mos ago?
User avatar
Bryn Mawr
Posts: 16113
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:54 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by Bryn Mawr »

joey2000;1266879 wrote: Repayment has nothing to do with being/not being an index fund.

And I give up: what happened 9 mos ago?


Sorry - do not understand you.

My best guess from your original post was that you we referring to a fund where the investment was linked to the stock market - hence the reference to the Dow and Nasdaq. If that is not what you mean by an index fund then I apologise but the term does not translate into English.

If my assumption was correct then you should have jumped in immediately after the crash happened and the markets stopped falling (about nine months ago) because they have risen significantly since and you returns will now be that much the smaller.
joey2000
Posts: 118
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:19 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by joey2000 »

Well we're both speaking English but that's about as far as I'll go. :cool: When you said "repayment," I thought you were talking dividends, since no fund otherwise "pays out" unless you sell it.

As for trying to time the market, I think many if not most of us have learned the hard way what a dicey game that is (in fact it's the very argument for Index funds) - sigh
User avatar
Bryn Mawr
Posts: 16113
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:54 pm

Index (mutual) funds

Post by Bryn Mawr »

joey2000;1266946 wrote: Well we're both speaking English but that's about as far as I'll go. :cool: When you said "repayment," I thought you were talking dividends, since no fund otherwise "pays out" unless you sell it.

As for trying to time the market, I think many if not most of us have learned the hard way what a dicey game that is (in fact it's the very argument for Index funds) - sigh


Take the Footsie (on the grounds it's the one I know best and I don't have time to research).

By August 2001 it had reached 6400+ but, after 9/11 it dropped to about 3900.

By September 2008 it had worked its way back to about 6200 but by the start of this year was down to about 4200.

By mid 2011 we can expect it to be back to around 6300 - trouble is, it's already at 5300 so you've lost half the profit to be gained during this downturn.

Welcome aboard, you're late :)
Post Reply

Return to “Wall Street to Main Street”