Are ETFs good for seniors?
In addition to making it easy to extract cash flows, index funds and ETFs also stack up well in terms of limiting a retiree's oversight obligations. That's an important consideration given that many retirees have better things to do with their time than monitor the news flow related to their holdings.
ETFs offer several advantages for IRAs. They often have lower expense ratios compared to mutual funds, which can result in higher long-term returns for your retirement savings.
ETFs are designed to track the market, not to beat it
But many ETFs track a benchmarking index, which means the fund often won't outperform the underlying assets in the index. Investors who are looking to beat the market (potentially a riskier approach) may choose to look at other products and services.
You do this by making monthly savings contributions and one-off investments into ETFs that track a broad stock market index such as the MSCI World. Over the years, the growth of the world's best firms, plus reinvested company profits, ensure that your portfolio increases in value.
Indeed, a good mix of equities (yes, even at age 70), bonds and cash can help you achieve long-term success, pros say. One rough rule of thumb is that the percentage of your money invested in stocks should equal 110 minus your age, which in your case would be 40%. The rest should be in bonds and cash.
Key Takeaways. ETFs offer advantages such as low expense ratios, intraday trading, and diversification within a 401(k) plan. They are less popular in 401(k)s due to the traditional prevalence of mutual funds, which are more familiar to participants and have several benefits.
Experts agree that for most personal investors, a portfolio comprising 5 to 10 ETFs is perfect in terms of diversification.
ETFs are most often linked to a benchmarking index, meaning that they are often not designed to outperform that index. Investors looking for this type of outperformance (which also, of course, carries added risks) should perhaps look to other opportunities.
Every time you add a single country fund you add political and liquidity risk. 4 If you buy into a leveraged ETF you are amplifying how much you can lose if the investment crashes. 1 You can also easily mess up your asset allocation with each additional trade that you make, thus increasing your overall market risk.
Market risk
The single biggest risk in ETFs is market risk. Like a mutual fund or a closed-end fund, ETFs are only an investment vehicle—a wrapper for their underlying investment. So if you buy an S&P 500 ETF and the S&P 500 goes down 50%, nothing about how cheap, tax efficient, or transparent an ETF is will help you.
How long do you have to keep money in an ETF?
Holding period:
If you hold ETF shares for one year or less, then gain is short-term capital gain. If you hold ETF shares for more than one year, then gain is long-term capital gain.
Going with an ETF is one way to use funds to make your brokerage account look like a bank account. Another way is buying a money market mutual fund backed by bonds of the federal government. Both accomplish similar goals with similar (very limited) risks.
Should you invest in ETFs? Since ETFs offer built-in diversification and don't require large amounts of capital in order to invest in a range of stocks, they are a good way to get started. You can trade them like stocks while also enjoying a diversified portfolio.
There are different rules of thumb you can apply to come up with an ideal net worth calculation. For example, one rule suggests having a net worth at 70 that's equivalent to 20 times your annual expenses. If you spend $100,000 a year to live in retirement, you should have a net worth of at least $2 million.
If you're 70, you should keep 30% of your portfolio in stocks. However, with Americans living longer and longer, many financial planners are now recommending that the rule should be closer to 110 or 120 minus your age.
But now that Americans are living longer, that formula has changed to 110 or 120 minus your age — meaning that if you're 75, you should have 35% to 45% of your portfolio in stocks. Using this formula, if your portfolio totals $100,000, then you should have no less than $35,000 in stocks and no more than $45,000.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are time-bound deposits held with banks that offer a fixed interest rate. CDs can also be a safe investment choice for retirees, primarily for the following reasons. First, CDs offer income stability through fixed interest rates and predictable maturity dates.
The safest place to put your retirement funds is in low-risk investments and savings options with guaranteed growth. Low-risk investments and savings options include fixed annuities, savings accounts, CDs, treasury securities, and money market accounts. Of these, fixed annuities usually provide the best interest rates.
Putting your money into S&P 500 ETFs only might limit your returns to some degree. But in exchange, you'll have a lot less work on your hands. You won't have to research individual stocks for your portfolio and keep tabs on their performance quarter after quarter.
The choice comes down to what you value most. If you prefer the flexibility of trading intraday and favor lower expense ratios in most instances, go with ETFs. If you worry about the impact of commissions and spreads, go with mutual funds.
Is Vanguard or Fidelity better for ETFs?
While Vanguard stands out with its suite of funds, the brokerage is more limited when it comes to other offerings. However, it does allow investors to trade individual stocks and bonds. Conversely, Fidelity allows clients to invest in individual stocks, bonds, ETFs, options, mutual funds and more.
The 4% rule is the basis of retirement plans across the world, heralded as a 'safe' withdrawal rate from your portfolio. A few simple calculations and the 4% withdrawal rate leads to the magic number that is the lump sum you need in retirement. Voila.
Generally speaking, fewer than 10 ETFs are likely enough to diversify your portfolio, but this will vary depending on your financial goals, ranging from retirement savings to income generation.
"A newer investor with a modest portfolio may like the ease at which to acquire ETFs (trades like an equity) and the low-cost aspect of the investment. ETFs can provide an easy way to be diversified and as such, the investor may want to have 75% or more of the portfolio in ETFs."
The single biggest risk in ETFs is market risk.
