[AJ32162]

In addition to the tax advantage of ETFs, call options can be sold on the underlying position to generate additional income.

[JoelJohnson]

Originally Posted by roadrnnr

That's One ETF I am thinking of putting a 1/3 in along with another 1/3 in VTI
Still looking for one for the final third that does not have a lot of overlap of the first two

Just not sure if I should get in now or wait for a correction of some sort since I am 68

Well, if you can time the market, then go ahead and wait. I'm looking at 10 years +, so I just went all in.

[Cuervo]

I don’t know what your financial situation is, but all investments carry some type of risk. You might win or lose or be stuck in something waiting for your pot of gold.

At a certain age what you have to figure out is how to secure what you have so it will last for the rest of your life.

Banks at the moment are returning 4%+ and are FDIC insured, though I’m sure that is not what you’re looking for if you have a big enough savings pot where you can live comfortably on secure stock dividends and bank interest, that might be the way to go.

I wouldn’t rely on any suggestions on this site not even mine, this is something you should carefully look into on your own since only you know what position you’re in.

[fireman]

I have been holding QYLD and RYLD for a while. And EDF not as much. They pay monthly dividends and have worked well for me.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Thanks. My stock portfolio consists almost entirely of the S&P 500 Index. Most of it is in the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund. I don't know much about ETFs, but it seems to me that, in the event that a volatile stock market event occurs, it could cause ETF investors to cash in large portions of their ETF investment, which would require the fund manager to sell off many stocks to raise the required cash. This would cause a disruption in the S&P balance and create a large capital gains distribution. I think this is less likely to happen with mutual funds because many investors are buy and hold investors, not active traders. My opinion. But, in any event, my portfolio has so much capital gain built in, that it would be foolish to convert to ETFs.

Always best to check with your tax advisor about these matters.
Expense ratios for mutual funds are higher than ETF'S. Plus you have to deal with capital gains on mutual funds, even if you have lost money in the fund.
ETFs: Expense Ratios and Other Costs | Charles Schwab
"Typically, ETFs have lower expense ratios than mutual funds. Generally, low-cost equity ETFs will have a net expense ratio of no more than 0.25%. Low-cost equity mutual funds will have expense ratios of 0.5% or lower."

[Pres1939]

Originally Posted by roadrnnr

I've got a couple Hundred thousand from a house sale sitting in a MM Fund at 4.39% currently

Have been waiting for a correction to jump back in.

I am looking at 2 or three ETF's to put it in but at 68 is that a good Idea?

I have always been in Mutual Funds but ETF's after a lot of research sound like a Much better Idea.

any advice appreciated

i am 85 and still invest in Vanguard’s S&P 500 Index ETF (stock symbol: VOO). It has had a phenomenal return, as has its companion mutual funds (VFINX & VFIAX). Research it on Yahoo Finance or CBS MarketWatch, or any other similar source. Returns the past 2 years have been significantly over 20%.
Now with 4 years of Trump ahead of us, we should see S&P 500 results similar to 2016-2020. At your age, you have many years to weather any market volatility. Your choice, but I would not hesitate to invest in VOO.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Due to the ETF tax efficiencies, the general rule of thumb is ETFs for taxable accounts and mutual funds for tax deferred IRAs/401Ks

The advantage of ETFs is that an individual can create an age/risk appropriate diversified portfolio which can return similar performance to active mgmt mutual funds, with the biggest advantage is controlling risk and tax implications. With a mutual fund, you are subjected to the portfolio managers tax decisions and costs.


If you want to see a simple, but well balanced, ETF portfolio at work is here
https://www.jpmorgan.com/content/dam...Report_JPM.pdf

you can follow along as well, and make this your benchmark portfolio to track your portfolio against.

good luck

This is critical. "Due to the ETF tax efficiencies, the general rule of thumb is ETFs for taxable accounts and mutual funds for tax deferred IRAs/401Ks."
I know someone (not me) who invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in mutual in a taxable account. Had huge losses and still had to report the capital gains distributions on their tax returns. That's why it is better to speak with your tax advisor before making investment decisions on your investment accounts.
ETF'S are a better option than mutual funds for both taxable and non-taxable accounts, IMHO.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

Always best to check with your tax advisor about these matters.
Expense ratios for mutual funds are higher than ETF'S. Plus you have to deal with capital gains on mutual funds, even if you have lost money in the fund.
ETFs: Expense Ratios and Other Costs | Charles Schwab
"Typically, ETFs have lower expense ratios than mutual funds. Generally, low-cost equity ETFs will have a net expense ratio of no more than 0.25%. Low-cost equity mutual funds will have expense ratios of 0.5% or lower."

The expense ratio for the Vanguard S&P 500 index mutual fund is 0.04 percent. You can't get much lower than that.

Capital gains taxes must be paid either now or later. In some cases, they may be deferred, but not eliminated.

[Pres1939]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I think you are correct, but none of those differences should be of concern to the average investor. I still invest in mutual funds, not ETFs.

I think you will find most competent CFPs. today advising their clients who want to invest in S&P 500 Index funds, in particular, to choose ETFs over MFs, because of their advantages.

[rsmurano]

It’s funny when people talk about generic etf’s like they are something magical, and they aren’t. It’s better to talk about managed funds vs index funds.
You can buy thousands of different etf’s or thousands of indexed funds or from thousands of managed funds.
No matter what you buy, you have to do your own research on which fund matches your investment goals and criteria. ETF’s can go down in value just like any other fund, so don’t think you can throw a dart at a wall of ETF’s and expect to make money.
I never use managed funds for a number of reasons: expense costs are huge, the turnover % are higher because the analysts are always trying to either balance the fund or chase it (you pay each year for this turnover), and I trust the broad index instead of what the analyst thinks. Index funds always outperform managed funds over the long haul.
The benefit of ETF’s are that you can trade them like a stock instead of waiting for the close of the market before they will buy or sell them. If you want to sell/buy stocks the same day, I can do this in the same trade with no problem, no need to wait multiple days for the trade to clear.
As for the person who lost a lot of money during the .com era, why? The only reason you lost money is because you sold low and probably bought high. If you didn’t need the money, let it ride and keep buying more if the stock/fund is good quality, any loss by a downturn is on paper. This is where dollar cost averaging comes into play: when you constantly put money into the market no matter if it’s on a high or on a low.
Since I dollar cost averaged most of my purchases during my career, I wanted the market to be really low so I can purchase more shares whereas if the market is high, it’s ok to brag about your portfolio but each monthly purchase of new shares will buy less.

[Jackha]

I have many etfs at 84 years old. Index etfs are a good investment that are not speculative . Mutual Funds are also a good investment, they are not so easily traded, whereas, etfs are stock trades.

[retiredguy123]

I understand that you can trade ETFs like stocks, but, to a long term investor, I don't consider that to be a benefit at all. I can sell mutual fund shares at 3:30 pm, and lock in the 4 pm price.

[biker59]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I don't know much about ETFs, but it seems to me that, in the event that a volatile stock market event occurs, it could cause ETF investors to cash in large portions of their ETF investment, which would require the fund manager to sell off many stocks to raise the required cash. This would cause a disruption in the S&P balance and create a large capital gains distribution. I think this is less likely to happen with mutual funds because many investors are buy and hold investors, not active traders. My opinion.

Not quite. A mutual fund creates shares when you buy it, and destroys shares when you sell it. You are buying from and selling to the company itself. An ETF has a (nominally) fixed number of shares bought by investment companies to resell to investors. When an investor buys or sells, s/he is buying from or selling to another investor, NOT the ETF itself.
So in the mutual fund case, there may be a need to sell off some underlying investments in order to meet the cash demands of redemption demands, which could ripple through the market or have a negative impact on the remaining fund investors in that they would pay tax on any resultant capital gains.
With an ETF, cash for a sale comes from the other investor who buys, so there is no need for the fund itself to meet cash redemption demands, so no sale of underlying investments, hence no impact on the remaining investors other than normal market fluctuation of the ETF price, as would happen with any stock.
.

[Cuervo]

If you have the time watch a movie called the BIG SHORT, it’s a somewhat funny movie about the true housing crisis of 2007/2009 that almost took down the whole world economy. If you get anything out of it, you’ll learn even the experts don’t have a clue. If you want to invest, get as much information as you can and trust your own gut, there are no guarantees

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by roadrnnr

I've got a couple Hundred thousand from a house sale sitting in a MM Fund at 4.39% currently

Have been waiting for a correction to jump back in.

I am looking at 2 or three ETF's to put it in but at 68 is that a good Idea?

I have always been in Mutual Funds but ETF's after a lot of research sound like a Much better Idea.

any advice appreciated

I would say that ETFs are better than Mutual Funds. Mutual Funds usually have high loading (the % of expenses and profit for the issuing company - compared to ETFs, which are MUCH, MUCH lower.)