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How to choose mutual funds to invest in
(lemm.ee)
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It's the fee the fund manager charges. Looking at mine, they call them expense ratios. Big broad stuff like S&p and total market is typically low fee <1%. But something that tracks a specific market sector, or a really active fund could charge >5%
Gotcha. Thank you for the explanation!
Just to emphasize the importance of low expense ratios: you don't just lose the money you pay to the fund manager. Over time you also lose what that money could have made if it had stayed invested. Even a modest retirement fund can have an opportunity cost of $50k by the time you retire. As another commenter said, Vanguard tends to have the lowest fees.