Question(s) about Mutual Funds & Price Updates
 

I understand that mutual fund prices do not update during the day and updates are posted at the end of the day.

1) is there a specific time that everything updates and do they all update at the same time? I find myself checking my account but I'm not sure if they are updating separately or all at the same time. Seems like I start checking about 2pm Pacific and see nothing but later I will see a change but not sure when it happend. I'm just wondering if there is an "official" update time and I will wait until then - I have 13 funds.

2) What is the logic of mutual funds updating at the end of the day. I have several ETF's that are very similar to mutual funds and they update throughout the day?

None of these questions are critically important, I'm just educating myself.

https://finance.zacks.com/mutual-fund-prices-updated-4652.html

I usually type in the stock ticker (ex PLCGX) after dinner on the Yahoo Finance site....I just tried it at 5pm EST, and it hadn't updated yet.

ETF are Exchange Traded Funds. They trade like stocks. Hence the continuous updates during the day.

Why is my broker pushing ETF's ???

Most (not all) ETF's are a fund that track a certain index (i.e., S&P500 or Dividend Stocks, etc..). They are passive, meaning that they go up/down based on whatever index they are mimicing. Because of this, they don't have a management team doing daily trades "trying to beat an index". I'm not sure why a broker pushes an ETF other than he is managing your total portfolio and he believes an ETF is a good way to go.

ETF's do have some level of management as someone has to execute transactions but not as much as a mutual fund.

So he can get 1+% of your account annually without doing anything you can't do yourself with the same minimal effort?

Ea$y money for them imo...

Your link explained it! Thanks.

Agreed. If your broker is pushing a common ETF fund like the S&P 500, there is no need to buy this thru a broker & pay large fees. However, many people do not feel comfortable making market decisions and in that case, a broker is the way to go.

Personally, if you don't feel comfortable making these decisions, I would recommend watching what the broker is doing and after some time, open a TD Ameritrade (or comparable) and try your own skills. Maybe even with a portion of your money. It really depends on you, your time, and ability.

I forgot to mention before, EFT's have much lower fees than a Mutual Fund. Vanguard has the lowest in the industry and they are famous for it. Their fees often run .05% or lower. They also do not have the minimum purchase like most mutual funds.

Some do, & I think they will do more of that as time goes along. The last time I bought into a fund (in addition to those I already had - regular fund outside of IRA's) I've had for decades, there was a minimum amount to buy in. Their fees have always been very reasonable.

ETFs tend to be more tax efficient than mutual funds, and also more vulnerable to flash crashes.

https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/etf/etfs-tax-efficiency

https://www.etf.com/sections/blog/understanding-etf-flash-crashes?

Agreed. But they do not surprise you at year end with a bunch of capital gains you would rather not take.

Keep anything that might have tax implications in a tax deferrered acct and it's a non-issue.

Ok plan if you are not retiring soon (or already retired).

Otherwise you turn long term capital gains into current income upon redemption and pay more taxes.

^^^^ A valid point .... I reckon ;).

I did that when I was into funds, stocks, partnerships, etc. and kept it VERY simple for my particular tax situation...

....but I did retire at 48 :D