Are you afraid to open your own mail for fear of seeing your 401(k) statement? Clark recently spoke to one man who referred to his plan as a 301(j) because it keeps going the wrong way!

The Financial Times of London reports that every mutual fund company is seeing people pull money out with all the market volatility. American Funds saw a 7% decline in assets during the last 90 days, while Vanguard has seen a 4% decline.

Why is this happening? People fear a loss twice as much as they enjoy a gain. It's part of being human. We're backwards creatures; when stocks roar along, people pour money into them. So we're always paying too much on the way up and getting too little on the way down.

No one can time the market. Rather, it's time in the market that matters. Clark has 3 rules of thumb to help you maximize your money over the years.


Avoid these 3 gotchas and you'll have more money over time. Just don't try to figure out when to sell and when to buy. Keep buying every month through your 401(k) or other retirement plan.

Time in is more important than timing. People are always asking Clark, "Is it time yet to get back in the market?" His standard reply is, "I never got out."

Do you have money to invest, but you're not sure where to put it? Most people who are unsure about investments hire someone to help. One of the greatest danger points is in mid-career, when you find yourself with a great deal of money in a 401K. At that time you're at the greatest risk, because that's when you're most likely to end up hiring a commissioned salesperson. Is that a problem in itself? No. There are plenty of situations when paying a commission is just fine. But in the investment world, there can be inherent conflict of interest with commissions. There are plenty of investment products that may not be the best choice for you, but you may be sold on them because the commissions are humongous. Variable and Index Annuities are referred to as 'sold', not 'bought', since people don't buy these on their own -- they are convinced to do so. Salespeople use code words such as Retirement Secured Account and other phony phrases to keep from tipping you off that you're being sold an annuity. Sometimes a Life, or Immediate Annuity makes sense, but the commissions are so low you won't hear much about them.

Clark wants to warn you away from another term: "fee-based planners." These salespeople start with a fixed fee, but the commissions on products they may sell you defray those initial costs, which again, may not be in your best interest. Honest commissioned salespeople will rise above their personal interests and sell what's right for you.

The stakes are so high in investing that Clark urges you to consider fee-only planners. They'll give you a fixed price up front for their services, regardless of the product they recommend. You won't have to worry about conflict of interest. Their success will depend on your good word of mouth and how well they did by you. To find a good one, go to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisers website, NAPFA.org. Another good resource is Garrett Planning Network: garrettplanningnetwork.com

CLARKONOMICS: Wachovia, Washington Mutual and National City -- 3 of the nation's top banks -- have all had to go looking for more cash, but hundreds of smaller banks around the country won't be able to find an angel to avoid failing. If you have less than $100K in a failing bank, none of what Clark is about to say matters to you; you'll be protected up to the full FDIC limit of $100K. But many business owners, people with inheritances and local governments have deposits that exceed that limit.

What can they do to avoid getting burned in the event of a bank collapse? CDARS.com extends FDIC protection up to $50 million by spreading your money among a number of participating banks. That way you never have more than $100K at any one financial institution.

On a related note, many people are upset that savings rates are in the toilet. But there are deals to be found if you search around. Many of the deals come from unusual sources. For example, CapitalOne.com is looking for a quick cash infusion on the cheap. So they're offering a simple savings account that pays 3.50% APY (accurate as of 07/31/08) if you have a minimum of $10K. Clark likes to check BankRate.com for CD rates. Do you have reservations about the financial health of any of these banks? You'll be fine as long as you stay below the FDIC limit.

Clark has a serious obsession with cost. That passion comes through in his emphasis on low-cost investments. The lowest-cost provider in the United States is Vanguard. Fidelity and T. Rowe Price are right behind Vanguard.

Syndicated financial writer Scott Burns has done an analysis and found that if you don't go the low-cost route, you'll have 40% less money at retirement. The commissions you'll pay are like a cancer eating at your retirement security.

When you buy a mutual fund, you pay a management fee every year. Vanguard, for example, charges only 1/8 what other expensive facilitators do. When it comes to variable annuities, Vanguard charges one-thirteenth less than others.

Some people think they can't go the low-cost route because it means they'll have to pick their own investments -- something they don't understand. But investing is not brain surgery. You just have to know the basics.

Pay yourself first so you have money to invest. And go for a Roth IRA! Your money will grow tax-free and it will be spent tax free. The Roth, however, is just a house and you've got to decide how to furnish it. That's where Clark's investing guide comes in handy. It contains his favorite picks for ultra low cost mutual funds, among other things.

Vanguard founder John Bogle is a fan of the targeted retirement funds. With these funds, you put your money in the year closest to when you expect to retire. It's a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price all offer this kind of investment.

One last thought: Beware of "employees" inside banks trying to sell you variable annuities when you go to renew your CDs -- unless you want to pay humongous commissions, face massive expenses and have immense tax problems.

Once upon a time, Americans worked for 1 employer for an entire lifetime. They also got a pension for their years of service. Back then, you didn't have to save for retirement or make any of the accompanying investment decisions.

Today, only government jobs and a small number of large companies still offer pensions. The rest of us are on our own. Unfortunately, the average worker is faced with an alphabet soup of retirement options -- everything from the 401(k); to the 403(b); to the SEP if you're self-employed. Just figuring out the terminology itself can exhaust, bore or intimidate you.

Once you get past weighing the merits of a 401(k) or a Roth IRA, for example, then you have to choose individual investments to actually put your money in. Most people don't have the first clue. That's why Clark compiled his investment guide to give you a starting point.

Clark is a big fan of targeted retirement funds, which offer a very hands-off approach to retirement planning. With these choices, you pick the year you expect to retire -- let's say 2040. Then you buy the 2040 portfolio and sit back. Over the next 30 years, the company you choose picks a mix of stocks and bonds to get the best returns with the lowest overall risk. As you get closer to 2040, your investments automatically become less risky.

Forbes now reports there are 289 different targeted retirement funds in the marketplace. So which company offers the best? That would be Vanguard. This financial house offers no load mutual funds; no hidden 12b-1 fees; and management costs that are about one-sixth the average of other companies. T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Investments are also good places for your targeted retirement funds. You can't go wrong with any of these 3 low cost houses.

Are you afraid to open your own mail for fear of seeing your 401(k) statement? Clark recently spoke to one man who referred to his plan as a 301(j) because it keeps going the wrong way!

The Financial Times of London reports that every mutual fund company is seeing people pull money out with all the market volatility. American Funds saw a 7% decline in assets during the last 90 days, while Vanguard has seen a 4% decline.

Why is this happening? People fear a loss twice as much as they enjoy a gain. It's part of being human. We're backwards creatures; when stocks roar along, people pour money into them. So we're always paying too much on the way up and getting too little on the way down.

No one can time the market. Rather, it's time in the market that matters. Clark has 3 rules of thumb to help you maximize your money over the years. First, avoid paying commission fees. Buy only no-load funds. Second, beware of 12b-1 fees. These are phony charges that won't be disclosed unless you read through the prospectus. They are a made-up fee designed to take money out of your pocket. Finally, make sure your management fees don't exceed 1% or more. Avoid those 3 gotchas and you'll have more money over time.

Just don't try to figure out when to sell and when to buy. Keep buying every month through your 401(k) or other retirement plan. Time in is more important than timing. People are always asking Clark, "Is it time yet to get back in the market?" His standard reply is, "I never got out."

Vanguard took in more than $76 billion in deposits and crossed the $1 trillion mark in total assets during the past year. That's more money than Doctor Evil can get his arms around! Clark has long been a Vanguard fan. They're probably the world's largest cooperative; when you invest with them, you become a part owner of the company. All the money that normally goes out to traditional shareholders instead comes back to you in the form of expenses that are one-tenth what some competitors charge. Clark would love for you to look at them if you want to open a Roth account or have a 401(k) rollover from a former employer. Vanguard is self-serve, which means you must make your own decisions about what to do with your money. If you still want to use a commissioned person, the American Funds family is your best bet. Though their fees are substantially higher than Vanguard, they're still less than most other commission-based places. If you make more than $100K/year, consider putting your idle cash in a municipal bond fund, also available through Vanguard.

Other no-commission companies Clark likes include T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Investments. They both have fund managers who select mutual fund investments for you. Vanguard's specialty, meanwhile, is index funds where you buy slices and dices of many companies, like a Total Stock Market Index. Regardless of where you invest, you should consider putting a portion of your money in foreign capitalist markets. There are both established international funds and emerging market funds available -- known as BRIC investing (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Clark has not gone down the traditional BRIC road, but he has put 5% of his stock holdings in other third world countries. Fidelity, meanwhile, allows you to own the world in one purchase. Their 4-in-1 fund owns big companies, small companies, international companies and bonds. So if you don't want to think too much, this is simple one-stop shopping where you can put your money.

One caveat: Most of the investing world thrives on trying to use confusing language that impresses and intimidates. The goal is to make you feel incapable of making basic investment decisions. But Clark is all about trying to make things clear for you. Sometimes he succeeds, and other times he doesn't. Yet the first thing to do is spend less than what you make. There's no investing if there's no money left from your paycheck at the end of the day. That's the great American challenge right now.

Many people are uncertain what to do when it comes to the question of stocks. In a continuing segment of Clarkonomics, Clark examined the investing angle of the economic slump. The real question is should any of it matter to how you create long-term security? Clark recently saw a couple of alarming headlines in The Wall Street Journal: "When is it time to buy stocks again?" and "Are stocks cheap?" There are two things Clark doesn't believe in: Buying individual stocks and timing when to get in and when to get out of the market. Clark believes in buying stocks through mutual funds or ETFs (exchange-rated funds). Basically, he buys a basket of investments with little slices and dices of a lot of different companies. He also buys on a consistent basis -- via his 401(k) every pay period and via an investment plan every month. But let's cut to the chase: Should you be worried by the market volatility? If you're near retirement age and aren't diversified in your assets, yes, you probably should be. But if you're young, it's good to have a decline in share prices now. The decline means that you can buy more shares for the same dollar.

We're in the midst of the season for New Year's resolutions. Yet only 8 percent of people achieve their resolutions, and half actually fail before January is through. Almost no one makes investment resolutions. Instead people usually focus on getting fit, losing weight, being nicer, etc. Apparently, people don't feel guilty about not getting their finances in order. So what's your investment plan? Do you have one? Do you even have any money to invest? Clark recently read a story in Smart Money magazine about how people who buy mutual funds from full commission stock brokers like Merrill Lynch get ripped. Most of us lack the willpower to invest in our future or we're intimidated by the concept. So we hire others to do it for us.

What is a mutual fund? Essentially it's when people pool their money and invest together. They benefit from strength in numbers. But you pay a manager to manage your mutual funds whether you go the no load (aka no fee) route or full commission. So why pay a broker on top of that?? Meanwhile, full commission mutual funds can be loaded with hidden charges like 12b-1 fees. So what's the solution? Well, it's now very easy to pick your own mutual funds through Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price. For example, Clark has the annual report from the Vanguard Star Fund. Once you get past all the government disclosures, there are roughly 8 pages of info that explain in plain English what you're buying into. So Clark wants you to re-think the ideas that you don't know about this stuff and you're not interested in it. The bottom line is you want your money working for you. If nothing else, do a targeted-retirement fund at work to get your investment strategy off the ground. This stuff is not rocket science -- even though some financial types want you to think it is!

Clark's strategies for investing infuriate some people. They take issue particularly with the way he steers folks away from variable annuities and toward index funds or tax-managed accounts. But he's not alone in slamming variable annuities. The Wall Street Journal recently presented its reasons why they stink. But first, Clark wants to give some examples of index funds and tax-managed accounts so people know what he's talking about. Index funds can be things like the 500 Index or the Total Stock Market Index. With the former, you own one investment that owns small slices of the top 500 companies in America. With the latter, you own pieces of 3,000 companies in the United States. Tax-managed accounts, meanwhile, are for big spenders who have $10,000 or more sitting around. They offer low management costs and the management company is duty bound to balance your losses and gains so you don't have a huge tax bill at the end of the year. Both index funds and tax-managed accounts should be bought from no-commission, low-cost mutual fund companies like Fidelity Investments, Vanguard or T. Rowe Price.

There really are some stark differences when you compare and contrast Clark's choices of index funds/tax-managed accounts versus variable annuities. The latter has gigantic expenses each year, as much as 15 times greater than Clark's choices. The maximum tax you can pay on index funds/tax-managed accounts is only 15 percent, while it's 35 percent on a variable annuity. Variable annuities are also designed to be spent only when you're 59 1/2 or older. If you want your money earlier, you'll pay a 10 percent penalty. Clark's choices have no such age restrictions or penalties. Finally, you must pay a massive fee called a yearly surrender charge if you want out of a variable annuity before you've owned it for 10 years. Tax-managed accounts, meanwhile, may assess a one-percent fee if you leave with the first five years. The verdict is clear: Variable annuities stink!

The stock market has been very unstable the last several weeks with huge gains one day and huge losses the next. The volatility has caused a lot of fear in investors. There was a recent study that found people who pay too much attention to the market make poor investment decisions. That's probably because the financial press and outlets like CNBC tend to hype stock news and get people worried. But if you're still years away from retirement, just diversify your investments to spread out the risk and don't worry about every little bump in the market. After all, even investors who rode out the Great Depression eventually got some nice returns. Clark doesn't plan to adjust his investing strategy just because of stock market volatility. He thinks CDs and 401(k) options are relatively safe choices. If, on the other hand, you need your money in the next few months or years, you have to make investments that are very safe. Clark's Investing Guide provides info on some great options.

Do you know what a tax managed portfolio is? It’s a fund that is specifically managed by one person and, therefore, has very few tax penalties. The money you contribute is not taxed, just the earnings. And, even then, the money can’t be taxed any more than 15 percent. In addition, tax-managed portfolios are a great product to inherit because you can pass them on tax free. You must have $10,000 to open one, which can be tough for some people. But if you can afford it, you may want to buy more than one. Choices include big companies, small companies, international companies and a mix of all of the above. But how do you know where to begin? Well, if you go with Vanguard, for example, a good game plan is to go with the “Capital Appreciation” fund first. The next $10,000 would go in the international fund, followed by the small company portfolio. That way, you’re diversified across all three sectors of the financial market. Then, when it’s time to put more money in, you put half of the money you have into the first fund, and 25 percent into each of the other two. If you’re self-employed, consider a SEP and do the same thing. Good luck!

Awhile back, Clark talked about the “Merrill Lynch” rule. The financial industry had gotten the SEC to adopt a rule that basically lets brokerage firms and financial houses off the hook for putting you into risky investments. Well, that is about to change. Clark has great news regarding this long-standing rule, which basically causes clients to lose money and fattens the firm’s wallet. A Supreme Court ruling has just been issued, which requires firms to put your money in investments that benefit you and not them. Until now, the only requirement of firms was that recommendations be “suitable” for the client. That essentially means that an investment is appropriate for the client’s age, but that’s it. It didn’t matter if the investment is the worst fund in existence. And the salesperson handling the money often got free trips or money in return. That is no longer allowed and we’ll keep you posted on any appeals that occur.

Brokerage houses are facing more and problems with criminal rings hacking into brokerage accounts. The latest involve criminals from offshore sites, including Lithuania, Latvia, the British Virgin Islands, India and others. The criminals use the money in your account to buy a stock and run up its value, or they wire money out of your account to use however they please. There are technologies available that help protect your account such as an electronic key. You simply plug it into your computer wherever you are, and then you enter your user name and password. It proves that you are authentic and no one else can get into your account without the key. Current technologies are too vulnerable. In addition, brokerage houses are under no legal obligation to repay you what you lost if someone breaks into your account. So, check your brokerage account often and check for pending sales or changes in your balance information.

The biggies in the full-commissioned stock brokerage firms are Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley. People pay a lot of money to these firms to have someone handle their money, and there are decent people working for those firms. But workers in these firms don’t always do what’s best for the customers. And they don’t have to, according to law. At Merrill Lynch, some workers have crossed the line. Merrill Lynch got in trouble with the NASD for acting unethically for three years. Specifically, offices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Hopewell, N.J., set out to rip off people with smaller accounts, according to sources. These offices took people out of the accounts they were in and put them in ultra high-costs mutual funds that cost customers tons of money. The company even had contests to see which employees could put the most people in these funds. Merrill Lynch has settled the charges, but did not admit to cheating people. Keep in mind that stockbrokers do not have to do what’s in your best interest. Financial planners are held to a higher standard and are required to do what’s best for you. So consider going with one of them instead. Fee-only financial planners get no commission for helping you. They aren’t going to be free or even cheap, but they work. Go to napfa.org to find one.

Clark is a big believer in “lifestyle funds” or “lifecycle funds”. These are investments for people who are either bored with or intimidated by investments but would like to have someone look after their investments. Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price all offer these kinds of investments. You basically pick a target year when you’re planning to retire. You choose that fund and start investing right away. The companies have a targeted portfolio every five years from today. The mixes of stocks and bonds continually changes through the years based on your age and, therefore, the amount of risk you need. This is a great alternative if you can’t decide what to do with your money. About half of all households have not gotten started with retirement savings, in part because they can’t decide what to invest in. If you intend to save for retirement after you do something else, you’ll never get it done. So, do this now. Check out the list of funds on Clark’s invsting page. Vanguard is the lowest in cost, but all three companies are great.

Several years ago, Clark talked about a lawsuit that had been filed against Edward Jones brokerage firm for allegedly taking kickbacks from companies they recommended. At the time, it shocked a lot of people. But the truth is that it’s happening everywhere. People go to a stockbroker to get suggestions that will earn them money, right? Well, under current regulations, a stockbroker is not required to do what’s best for you. They can’t do anything that will harm you, but they don’t have to do what is best for you. So, think about that when you decide on your brokerage firm. If you buy commission-free mutual funds, which you have to buy from a discount broker, you have many more choices and there is no incentive to deceive you. There is no equivalent with a full-commissioned stockbroker. So consider the discount brokers like T. Rowe Price.

Let’s say you’re 25 years old and you’re earning $30,000 a year. Over the years, you earn a bit more because of inflation and you start saving about 10 percent of your pay each year. You put the money into mutual funds, either through a 401k or through an IRA, until you retire. If you’ve put the money into a low cost mutual fund, you will have $1 million more dollars than if you’d put the money into high-cost funds, according to a study published in the Boston Globe. The study compared money put into high cost funds, mid-level mutual funds and low-cost funds. To explain further, someone who puts his money into a high cost fund at that rate will have $1.7 million at retirement. With a moderate-cost fund, he would have $2.2 million. And with a low-cost fund, it would be just under $2.9 million. In addition, people investing in the low-cost funds have 70 percent more money to spend in retirement. It’s simple math and it can make a huge difference.

Your brokerage firm may be taking advantage of you. Historically, brokerage house has paid you true money market rates. That would mean you’d get 3.5 or 3.8 percent on your money today. But right now, brokerages are giving much less. If you have a standard brokerage account at eTrade for example, you are getting one-sixth of 1 percent. Charles Schwab is paying half a percent, and Merrill Lynch is paying just over 1 percent. So, these brokerages are basically looting your account by reducing fees. Clark wants you to take the opposite of his traditional advice and transfer money from these brokerage accounts to a bank account that pays more. Emigrantdirect.com for example offers 3 percent on cash, which is much better.

Many people continue to pay gigantic fees for investments, but in the low commission world of investments commissions keep going down. Charles Schwab has just about limited all fees on its accounts, and the same is true with Fidelity Investments. It means that small investors who are just starting out can go to one of those two big financial houses and not worry about huge commissions. Also on people’s radar screens is something called an ETF or “exchange traded fund.” They’re growing like crazy as an alternative investment for people going into stocks. Clark still supports mutual funds, specifically index funds. The direct competitor is an ETF, which is similar to buying a stock. So, which is better? If you’re gradually putting money into the account each paycheck, an index fund is the right choice. But if you got a sudden windfall or big bonus, an ETF would make more sense. You pay a commission to buy and to sell it. The advantage is that over time an ETF has much lower management fees than a regular mutual fund. The other advantage is an ETF won’t cost you a lot in taxes. Clark doesn’t want to confuse you with this information. He just wants you to know a little bit about ETFs because you’re going to see more of them.

Have you done an inventory recently on how much money you have in your savings & checking accounts and in your brokerage accounts? A few months ago Clark talked about brokerage houses that were defaulting accounts into extra low percentage accounts. Over time, it eats you up. The average bank or credit union isn’t paying a great rate either. But if you shop the market place you can do great. Federally insured money market accounts are earning 3.75 to 3.8 percent. And one-year CD are earning 4.5 percent. Compared to recent years, that’s great. If you go for a 2.5 year CD, you’ll earn the same thing. There is no benefit to doing a long-term CD right now. The sweet spot in the market place is 1-year CDS and money market accounts. These are parking spots for savings. This isn’t investing. You can go shop rates online at bankrate.com. That’s why you don’t let your idle cash sit in a local bank with puny fees. With your brokerage statement, call up and ask for other alternatives “for sweep.” You want the money swept into a high interest rate account. If they tell you they can’t move you or you don’t qualify, can them. You work hard to make money. Make it work as hard for you as possible. Your assignment is to look at your most recent statements and see what they’re paying you.

Clark hates to hear that American consumers are saving an average of zero percent of their incomes in the U.S. Part of the problem is that people don’t know what to do about it. But Clark may have a solution for you. If you can put away $20 each month, you will be on your way. That’s right. There are mutual fund and stock-type investments that require you to invest just $20 a month, and that’s it! USAA, for example, has very low-cost program that is available to everyone. Usually, USAA serves only the military and their dependents. But you can call and enroll over the phone today. T. Rowe Price and Tiaa-Cref also have mutual fund accounts available for $50 a month. Many companies have extremely high minimums, so it’s hard to “get in.” But with these funds, you have options and a way to get started!

Several mutual fund companies have reached settlements with the SEC for misleading consumers regarding the sale of mutual funds, news reports state. Smith Barney, for example, was fined for not telling clients that its brokers were getting kickbacks for putting customers in certain mutual funds. If you’re a customer of Smith Barney, you may want to talk to your broker and find out what’s going on. American Express was also fined for engaging in practices similar to this, as was J.P. Morgan. Another company, Putnam Investments, paid a $40 million fine without admitting any wrongdoing. It makes it apparent once again that people should always buy mutual funds from no-commissioned companies. You save tons of money and you are no longer a sitting duck for the crooked mutual fund companies out there.

A study done recently by Oppenheimer funds shows that people are one of four types of investors. First are the “Pensive Procrastinators.” These people are unprepared but they’re worried they haven’t done enough. The next group is the “Unrealistic Optimists.” They are not prepared and they don’t care. They’ve already been dipping into retirement accounts and spending most of what they have. “Nervous Nellys” are prepared for retirement, but they’re still worried. “Smooth Sailors” are prepared for retirement and they’re confident about their financial futures. So, of the four groups, which one has the most people? One out of three people are “Unrealistic Optimists,” which is a sobering statistic. Before you know it, it will be retirement age and you will have no money. Nervous Nellys represent about one-fourth of people and Smooth Sailors are one-fifth of the population. Clark hopes more people move into those two groups

Clark saw a story recently entitled, “Why it’s Good To Be Rich.” Financial writer Jonathan Clements wrote the article and he lists 25 reasons why it’s so great to be rich. What was interesting about the article is that just about anyone can do the 25 things if they just put their minds to it. The No. 1 thing to do is pay off our credit cards each month. But people just don’t do that. Roughly 2 out of 3 people have an outstanding balance on credit cards, and they’re throwing money away as a result. The second reason is that you can send your kids to school without taking out student loans. The third reason is you can trim insurance costs by raising deductibles on policies. Rich people can also take advantage of tax-favored accounts such as Roth IRAs and 529 plans. The list goes on and on. But anyone can do these things and it will lead to wealth. It’s not just rich people who can make these things happen.

Several mutual fund companies have reached settlements with the SEC for misleading consumers regarding the sale of mutual funds, news reports state. Smith Barney, for example, was fined for not telling clients that its brokers were getting kickbacks for putting customers in certain mutual funds. If you’re a customer of Smith Barney, you may want to talk to your broker and find out what’s going on. American Express was also fined for engaging in practices similar to this, as was J.P. Morgan. Another company, Putnam Investments, paid a $40 million fine without admitting any wrongdoing. It makes it apparent once again that people should always buy mutual funds from no-commissioned companies. You save tons of money and you are no longer a sitting duck for the crooked mutual fund companies out there.

One of the most popular links on Clark’s Web site is his IRAs & Investments page, which lists Clark’s favorite, low-cost funds. Clark has just learned that there are some great new investment opportunities out there. So he is going to revamp this page and offer you even more choices. We’ll tell you about them here, too. Fidelity Investments has always had good, low-cost funds, and some of them are listed on his page. But, now Fidelity has outshined Vanguard and is offering a mutual fund with the lowest expense ratio ever on a mutual fund. Most brokerage houses charge 1.5 percent per year extra to manage your fund. In addition, there are typically commission fees taken out. It means that for every $1, that amount is immediately knocked down to 93 cents as soon as you invest it. Under Fidelity’s new, low-cost plans will have expenses of one-tenth of 1 percent. In other words, the average mutual fund charges you 15 times what Fidelity will charge. The funds include the “Total Stock Market Index Fund,” and the “Fidelity 500 Index Fund,” but there are a total of five funds. The minimum is sometimes more than you’d like to pay. But it’s worth it if you have the cash.