Has anyone tried this strategy. Any comments on the authors selected ETF's.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Invest...ing/P117785.asp

Sorry ETF not ETA.

What?

Many companies wave min. fees if you auto invest at least $50.00 or $100.00 a month.

I am a big fan of ETF's but this article was obviously written in hindsight. No financial planner advises such a high stake in real estate... The reit postion is totally wrong in my humble opinion. Especially with the coming cool down of the real estate market. The other information seems to be on target.

Now here is a thought. Let's say you are auto investing but the charge is $7 to buy a $50.00 etf....you have just lost 14% on the buy. Hard to recover from that...buy $500.00 for $7 and you cost is 1.4% a very manageable amount. Sometimes it is better to accumulate money and buy in bigger lots just as the above example shows.

Now, a different senerio would be to open an account with USAA. There a small investor can buy safe mutual funds for as little as $20.00 per month with no fees to buy or sell. This would be a great way to accumulate enough money to buy into the larger funds that require $2000.00 or $3000.00 after a few years of saving.

Clark

P.S. ETA vs ETF threw me on the title of this thread.

Good points, Clark. I have been using Sharebuilder for years. I think that they try to stress how little it costs to invest but they don't tally up the fees over the long run. I don't generally invest small sums, so it works for me. Another option would be to open a savings account with ING or Emigrant to accumulate a larger sum to invest.

I appreciate all the advise. DW and I have some extra at the end of each month after emergency fund, IRA, 401K etc. and are trying to slowly accumulate. Always looking for ideas. I am new to ETF's so I wanted a seasoned investors opinion.

Search feature works again. For anyone who reads this post, here is a link to post about the same subject.

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141753

I have a USAA account. I have an EFT set up for twice a month for two different funds. Each at $50.01. I also have one for my dd into the first start fund. She's doing pretty well if I might say so. I'm alittle jealous of her current returns but I think I'm still doing pretty well though.

I don't understand how the article could say that most accounts require atleast a $2500 min opening deposit. I would have to say that whenever I look all I find are accounts that let you get in for $50 or less as long as you set up an eft. I guess YMMV.

Starting small has huge advantages. If you start small you don't even miss the money. Then you can slowly add more and more and still not miss it. I know that when I try to start big (like $200 or more) it is always painful and I end up stoping the efts because losing that money is hurting me. But when I start small I can add little by little getting up to that $200 or more a month without a problem. Now I am doing alot more than $200 per month utilizing efts to treasury direct, ing, my usaa savings account, my 401k, and my usaa investment account (and my dd's). It is really refreshing to know that all of the money that disappears from my checkbook register is somewhere that it can help me down the road, if I need it. One silly thing though. I find if I don't look at the accounts there is no temptation to make withdrawls at all.


hmm... seems I've gone a bit.

I really like USAA. They a pro small investor and only require an auto transfer of $20.00 per month in their mutual funds. I can not think of a better way for a small investor to get investment experience as cheaply as the USAA way. Good point belleama. I wish the folks that were so excited about ING would get excited about having an investment account with USAA. They can make better returns there and USAA is always been know for its top notch customer service as well as being a consumer friendly company!

Clark

Just an FYI: The two funds I invest in require a $50 eft per month each. The one my dd is in (first start something) only requires $20.

Didn't know USAA did ETFs. Still can't find it on the site. Can ya point me in the direction of the link to sign up on the site? Thanks!

If you don't already have an investment account or ira you need to open one. When you are opening the account it'll ask you which fund you want to invest in and then it'll give you the option to do the monthly transfers.

If you do have an account you log into your investment account then on the right there is a link to set up recurring transfers. It is self explanitory from there.

I hope I am remembering this correctly.

O dang! Sorry, I am think ETFs are something else, like some special investment vehicle I and get into. I have a couple of these already. Thanks for the help though!!

I can tell I am sleepy!

Don't worry about it

Point of information...

USAA does have ETF's through its regular brokerage service but this is being confused with USAA mutual funds. The $50.00 per month at no cost are mutual funds. The $20.00 per month is a mutual fund as well.

I like Scottrade for ETFs but not for dollar cost averaging. If you plan to autoinvest go with USAA mutual funds at no cost...otherwise buy ETFs via Scottrade at no less than $500.00 blocks so you won't be eaten alive with the $7 buy in.

Just an opinion,


Clark

Is USAA only open to military members/families? USAA.com is the only one I can find and it states only servicemembers/families are eligible. Is this correct?

Only military/families are eligible for their insurance products. Everything else is open to the public, however, you must call for a membership number if you are not military/family. It takes like 5 mins to get your number and to open your accounts so its nothing invasive or anything.