I've got 10K to invest, but in what?

[Arrian]

Originally posted by DanS
Yeh, I have an opinion. Don't listen to the guy who's pushing managed funds with loads.

Go as much indexed as you can. Sometimes suitable international index funds are hard to find, though. What are the expense ratios on those funds that you listed?

That is my thought too.

Expense ratios...

0.85% for Davis NY Venture
1.66% for ING Foreign
0.82% for Nuveen CT Bond

Here are the index funds that we are already in:

I-shares 500 Index (IVV)
Vanguard EuroPacific Index (VEA)
10% to I-shares 1-3yr Treasury Bond (SHY)

-Arrian

[pchang]

Technically

iShares are not index funds, but Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Since you buy them like stocks, they have a transaction fee to get in and out (say $15 per trade at a discount broker), but they have very low expense ratios (in some cases a few basis points lower than regular Vanguard index funds, but typically a few basis points higher than Vanguard Admiral class shares).

[DaShi]

Invest in me!!

[LordShiva]

Free trades at zecco.com

Symbol IFN

[dannubis]

mining should do juuust fine

[DanS]

Originally posted by Arrian
That is my thought too.

Expense ratios...

0.85% for Davis NY Venture
1.66% for ING Foreign
0.82% for Nuveen CT Bond

Here are the index funds that we are already in:

I-shares 500 Index (IVV)
Vanguard EuroPacific Index (VEA)
10% to I-shares 1-3yr Treasury Bond (SHY)

-Arrian

Yeh, the way to look at this is that the loads may decrease the expense ratios. But those expense ratios + loads are extremely unfair to an investor. The best I could describe the ING Foreign fund is that ING is Louima-ing its customers.

Those index funds/ETFs look pretty good. Probably a little conservative for your age-group if you're talking retirement. Probably a little aggressive if you're talking a 10 to 15-year time horizon. (This is not a precise opinion, just my initial impression.)

[DanS]

You pays your money and you takes your chances

By the way, I sold my IVV 2% from its peak last year. Even though I stink at timing the market, I thought myself fortunate to exit at just the right time. That said, it would have been fine if I had stayed in IVV. Over the long term, it will pay reasonable returns.

Regarding your 10 to 15-year time horizon, it's tricky. Keep in mind that stocks can decline or go roughly sideways for 2 or 3 decades at a time. A 10 to 15-year time horizon dictates that you keep much more of your portfolio in income earning accounts, such that you continue to earn reasonable returns while the stock market goes sideways or down.

[Krill]

Blow it all on cocaine and hookers in Dubai?

[Berzerker]

well, a few years back I put 10 K (that was their minimum) in a Longleaf mutual fund and they've done me quite good.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is weird...I was just going to post a thread like this. We're about to come into some money from some nearly-unsellable property that the state of Texas has seized under eminent domain (thank you, Texas!), and we need to park it until we get back from Afghanistan in 2010.

My first thought was a Vanguard money market; given that I'm pretty clueless, it's nice to see that that was a good guess.

[Saras]

What kind of education do you have? Education is a great investment

[One_more_turn]

Arrian, you better fire your advisors immediately because they showed their dishonesty by steering you toward mediocre performing load funds.

[MikeH]

I have an absolute guaranteed can't lose investment going. Paypal me the $10k.

[Heresson]

Invest in Heresson

[LordShiva]