No load bond funds are one of the top investments that people are looking at today. In a do it yourself era, no load means no added expenses. The downside of this is that you have to do a lot of work and increase your investment knowledge to follow how your money is doing. While there aren’t the usual commissions and sales expenses associated with load bond funds, there are expenses that you will have to consider. Expense ratios are the costs of doing business in the investment arena. So what are no load bond funds with the best expense ratios and how do you make your selections?
Bond funds come in an array of choices. They are issued by a company and the expense ratios will be conveyed in the prospectus. Expense ratios can cover a number of actual expenses of operation: daily fund accounting and price; management of portfolios, services for the shareholders like websites, 12b-1 distribution fees and all kinds of miscellaneous costs involved in the operation. The expense ratio is considered to be an ongoing expense and should be a consideration when you invest.
You can go to any of the reliable websites to get up to the minute expense ratio information on a potential company that you are looking to invest in. The expense ratio must be lower than the actual net return. You should examine the long term expense ratio over a period of years and review the average to get a good idea if this is a company you wish to invest in.
While the market trend seems to be continually heading towards lower expense ratios, you should evaluate your ability for the general risk. Risk assessment is a major portion of your consideration. If you invest badly, you risk losing a lot.
The internet offers a number of top reliable sites that have free trial memberships. They offer easy to use tools to assist you in comparing prices, expense ratios and giving you the pros and cons to assist in making your decisions.
You can purchase as an individual fund or as part of a family of funds. You will need to do the work to evaluate what works best for you. Information changes daily and company directions change constantly. To be savvy in this market, you will have to stay on top of the expense ratios as well as the performance of your investment.
If you are new to the game, you might want to consider an initial consultation with an investment counselor. They can give you many short cuts that can be of great assistance.
Here are some of the no load bond funds with the best expense ratio:
California Investment S&P 500, Inv (SPFIX)
Fidelity Spartan 500 Index, Inv (FSMKX)
Schwab S&P 500 Select, Inv (SWPPX)
SSga S&P 500 Index, Inv (SVSPX)
T.Rowe Price Equity Index 500, Inv (PREIX)
United Association S&P 500 Index, Inv (UAIIX)
USAA S&P 500 Index Member, Inv (USSPX)
Vanguard 500 Index Admiral, Inv (VFIAX)
Vanguard 500 Index, Inv (VFINX)
Vantagepoint 500 Stock II, Inv (VPSKX)
