Roth IRA question???

[Jon99]

Just starting a retirement account and my plan is to buy ETF's thru Sharebuilders, funding $300/month.. Going to start buying SPY, then diversing into a mid-cap and intl fund down the road.. Also then going to throw the other $400 into DIS..

Opinions on using ETF's?

 

[disneysteve]

Just starting a retirement account and my plan is to buy ETF's thru Sharebuilders, funding $300/month.. Going to start buying SPY, then diversing into a mid-cap and intl fund down the road.. Also then going to throw the other $400 into DIS..

Opinions on using ETF's?

I just stumbled across this post. I see that it has gotten no responses. I'd suggest reposting on the Budget Board as that's where the personal finance discussions tend to take place.

As for the question, have you thought about what effect transaction costs are going to have? If you use their auto plan, I think it is $4 per trade. That would be 1.3% on a $300 investment. In contrast, Vanguard's S&P 500 Index Fund has an expense ratio of 0.18%. You may do better over time going the mutual fund route. Just something to think about.