Today I bring you a very quick review of a new way to see if you’re getting the best deal on your investing platforms. It’s amazing how much money you can lose in just fees, which add up incredibly quickly over the long run.
FeeX* offer
s investors – both rookie and established – a free way to analyze and reduce fees by identifying cost-effective investment alternatives.
After signing up with FeeX, you select your brokerage, and login as you would to check investments. FeeX, which uses bank-level encryption, pulls investment data and offers you an overview of how many fees were found per investment, estimated losses over 30 years and other investment options to reduce fees. If you’re wary about security, then at least take some time to compare fees the hold fashioned way — by hand. It’s important for you to make sure your investments aren’t bleeding money in fees.
You can “test drive” an investment but inputting the amount you plan to invest and the symbol/keyword. FeeX provides details on cheaper options – if one exists.
FeeX actually showed me that Fidelity’s Spartan 500 Index Fund beats Vanguard’s S&P 500 Index Fund, which honestly “bogled” my mind (investing pun!).
Vanguard charges an expense ratio of 0.17% on its S&P 500 Index Fund (VFINX). $5,000 in VFINX would cost $9.04 in annual fees. FeeX pulled Fidelity’s Spartan 500 Index Fund (FUSEX) as a comparable index fund with an expense ratio of 0.1%, charging $5.32 in fees. To the relief of Bogleheads, FeeX couldn’t find a cheaper alternative to Vanguard’s 500 Index Fund Admiral (VFIAX).
Now, will I personally be switching these accounts? Not today because less than $4 isn’t enough incentive for me at the moment to switch, but it does make me think twice about the research I’ll be doing to find the cheapest funds on my next investment move.
However, it’s worth considering that while the difference in expense ratios may seem negligible to some investors, a small difference can add up to thousands of dollars being kept in the market. So if you aren’t too worried about your data being stolen, check to see if FeeX can help reduce fees and put money back in your portfolio. You can always deactivate after you check!
*No referral links here. Just spreading the word.
In case you don’t feel like reading 360 words…you can just watch this video:
I’ve been meaning to do this and now finally will. I love Vanguard but that’s because of its low fees. If someone else can offer lower fees, I may switch. I don’t want to leave VG though so hopefully, if any alternative options show up, they will still be at VG. I especially love how you can switch $ from VG fund to VG fund for free.
VG lol.
I’m a Vanguard enthusiast myself!
I feel like I don’t know a lot about investing, so I’ll have to check out FeeX for sure!
Certainly helpful to check out for rookies, but it would probably be best to try to find the cheapest options before jumping in.
Feex is really good for investment. But one reminder is if you don’t know how much you are paying, you are paying too much. So better be informed and educated.
That’s a good way to put it. Always know how much you’re paying!
Oooooh, I’m at an A+! No need to adjust for me! Yay! ALthough it is shocking to see that I’ll be paying almost $20k in fees over the next 30 years. Oh well, it’s the lowest it can be.
Hahaha, props to you! Yeah, I think the fees can be sickening, so best to keep them as low as possible.