Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello, I have a very small amount ( $ 250.00 ) in the Growth Fund of America by American Funds. I have had this account and get discouraged putting money into it for two reasons. The fund itself does not do well from what I see ( but I could be wrong ) and they charge a 4.75% sales charge. For example if I put $ 100.00 into the account I get charged $ 4.75. Is this normal ? I do not understand the mutual fund process completely. I would appreciate any help you can provide and I appreciate your suggestions. Murph
I hope a more knowledgeable person replies. In the meantime: the sales charge is called a sales load. Some funds have load fees and some don't. In general, load funds perform no better than no-load funds. It's a good idea to look around and see if you can find a comparable fund that doesn't charge a load fee before you buy. Here's a good explanation of sales loads and all the other fees mutual funds stick us with: Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses.
Looks like the Growth Fund of America is up comparable to the S&P this year.
get rid of it and buy the schwab-branded ETFs which have no load and lower expense ratios than Vanguard and you can buy them with no commission cost online.
Hello, I have a very small amount ( $ 250.00 ) in the Growth Fund of America by American Funds. I have had this account and get discouraged putting money into it for two reasons. The fund itself does not do well from what I see ( but I could be wrong ) and they charge a 4.75% sales charge. For example if I put $ 100.00 into the account I get charged $ 4.75. Is this normal ? I do not understand the mutual fund process completely. I would appreciate any help you can provide and I appreciate your suggestions. Murph
Paying a load/sales charge isn't worth it. There are plenty of funds that don't charge them.
I think American Funds has good to excellent funds but ONLY IF you don't have to pay the sales charge (as is usually the case with 401K plans and other employer sponsored retirement plans).
An equivalent fund to Growth Fund of America that doesn't charge a sales charge (with a similar expense ratio) would be:
Hello, I have a very small amount ( $ 250.00 ) in the Growth Fund of America by American Funds. I have had this account and get discouraged putting money into it for two reasons. The fund itself does not do well from what I see ( but I could be wrong ) and they charge a 4.75% sales charge. For example if I put $ 100.00 into the account I get charged $ 4.75. Is this normal ? I do not understand the mutual fund process completely. I would appreciate any help you can provide and I appreciate your suggestions. Murph
Funds with sales charges are only sold to the uninformed. Go to Vanguard for well managed funds with very low expenses and no sales charges.
Funds with sales charges are only sold to the uninformed. Go to Vanguard for well managed funds with very low expenses and no sales charges.
A good growth fund offered by Vanguard would be:
Vanguard Capital Opportunity (VHCOX).
It has great returns but can be quite volatile.
Mairs and Power Growth is still my favorite growth fund, but VHCOX is a solid fund if you can handle the ups and downs (A lot of people will say they can and then find out they can't). VHCOX also has a very low expense ratio of .48%.
Mairs and Power Growth is still my favorite growth fund, but VHCOX is a solid fund if you can handle the ups and downs (A lot of people will say they can and then find out they can't). VHCOX also has a very low expense ratio of .48%.
That is not a diversified fund, it's narrowly focused and therefore quite volatile as mentioned. You can go to the vanguard website and research their funds. They have it set up to help guide you to funds that suit your goals and risk tolerance.
That is not a diversified fund, it's narrowly focused and therefore quite volatile as mentioned. You can go to the vanguard website and research their funds. They have it set up to help guide you to funds that suit your goals and risk tolerance.
I wouldn't buy it. But I don't think Vanguard has many other growth funds with good performance...so that I why I mentioned it. Personally, if I wanted a growth fund, I wouldn't go with Vanguard. I'd go with my previous pick of Mairs & Power Growth. Less volatile. More diversified. Low turnover. Solid long term returns.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
