Here is some really good news for you. The Skilled Investor has published an article about lower cost S&P 500 index mutual funds that you can read, entitled: Low Cost S&P 500 Index Mutual Funds. The Standard & Poors 500 stock index is the most common equity index fund benchmark in the U.S. The S and P 500 tracks about 75% of publicly traded U.S. equity market asset value.
Below you will also find our Fund Authority Score summary for Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index II mutual fund. From a lower cost standpoint, these VPSKX index mutual fund shares are on the list as one of these better choices among all S&P500 index mutual funds.
The diversified investment fund strategy of the Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index mutual fund
According to Vantagepoint’s prospectus, the investment strategy of the Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index mutual fund “to offer long-term capital growth by approximating the performance of the S&P 500 Index. The fund’s principal investment strategies are “to seek to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 90% of its net assets in a portfolio that consists of the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, weighted to seek to replicate the investment characteristics and performance of the index.”
The dominant issue in choosing among passively managed index mutual funds and ETF funds benchmarked against the S & P 500 is that securities industry management and trading fees are all over the map from reasonably low to shockingly high.
The Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index II is not for the individual investor with limited funds. To participate in this low cost mutual fund, you must be eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that offers VPSKX Class II Shares as an investment alternative. Such employer plans might include A) 457 deferred compensation plans, B) 401(a) defined contribution plans, C) 401(k) salary reduction plans, or other similar plans.
To obtain the .25% annual expense ratio associated with Class II Shares, your employer-sponsored plan must have $20 million or more of your group’s employee assets under administration by the Vantagepoint Funds sponsor. If you plan’s total assets under administration by the sponsor are under $20 million, then only Class I Shares would be available, which carry a higher annual expense ratio of .45%. The trading symbol or ticker symbol for Class I Shares is VPFIX. Note that this higher annual expense ratio would have caused the VPSKX +9 [...]