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A Financial Mystery: Investors Paying Tens of Billions of Dollars to Underperforming Mutual Funds -- When Index Funds are Cheaper and Perform Better

The Motley Fool

In 2021, investors paid almost $90 billion in total fees on about $14 trillion of actively managed mutual funds to an industry flogging a product demonstrably inferior to index funds. Active vs. passive funds It's quite a problem, and a seemingly puzzling one, too. Image source: Getty Images.

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Could Buying Berkshire Hathaway Today Set You Up for Life?

The Motley Fool

Berkshire's approach clearly works better In many regards Berkshire Hathaway is like a traditional mutual fund, or even an actively managed exchange-traded fund (or ETF). The fact is, however, Berkshire is less like a mutual fund than perceived. It also invests in ways that most mutual fund managers simply can't.

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Surprise: You're Probably Paying a Lot More in Investing Fees Than You Think

The Motley Fool

38% of mutual fund investors think they don't pay any mutual fund fees or expenses. Expense ratios : An expense ratio is an annual fee charged by mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,470 !*

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AGNC Sports a Gigantic 15% Yield. Are Investors Paying Too Much for It?

The Motley Fool

In some ways, it is more like a mortgage-focused mutual fund that just happens to trade as a company. Remember that AGNC is similar to a mutual fund. The book value, which would be akin to a net asset value for a mutual fund, ended the third quarter at $8.82

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A Once-in-a-Decade Investment Opportunity: 1 Little-Known Vanguard Index Fund to Buy for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Boom

The Motley Fool

The Vanguard Utilities ETF has a below-average expense ratio of 0.1%, meaning shareholders will pay $1 annually on every $1,000 invested in the fund. By comparison, Vanguard says the average fee on similar funds as 0.99%, and Morningstar says the average expense ratio across all index funds and mutual funds was 0.36% in 2023.

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2 Dividend Stocks to Double Up On Right Now

The Motley Fool

The company accounts for a huge proportion of the wider market's earnings, which makes it a big part of many index and mutual funds. Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $44,456 !* It's worth remembering that you likely have lots of exposure to Apple stock, even if you don't own many shares.

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How Should a Beginner Invest in Stocks? 1 Simple Investment for a Lifetime of Security.

The Motley Fool

But let's focus on stock investing -- and i f there's one product that is perfect for beginners, it has to be exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In short, ETFs are like mutual funds , but they trade like stocks. Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,756 !*

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