Crapple writes:

I'm 27, looking to start planning for retirement. My company has an arrangement through The Hartford group for our 401K and I read your article on Fund Level Expenses and how the broker will be earning compound interest on MY compound interest. I also ran across this article while researching:(and it also links to a Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer that might be handy for other Consumerist readers). The article is talking about getting yourself involved in an Index Fund that would have fee's of around .19% or so and going it alone.

Most of the 16 investment options I have through The Hartford have a fee of over 1% (many over 1.25%)...

How To Tell A Good Stock Picking Strategy From A Faulty One

Is Wall Street Killing America?

The financial sector of our economy is the largest profit-making sector in America. Our financial services companies make more money than our energy companies — no mean profitable business in this day and age. Plus, our healthcare companies. They make almost twice as much as our technology companies, twice as much as our manufacturing companies. We've become a financial economy which has overwhelmed the productive economy to the detriment of investors and the detriment ultimately of our society.

Investors Don't Like Mutual Funds Anymore?

As far as our novice eyes can tell, this transaction chart, found at thewallstreetbully, demonstrates the concept we posted last week of buying low and selling high within a single investment over time.

This is not the secret to investing superstar success. It's just an example of successful application of the principle.

Thinking Differently About "Buy Low, Sell High"

We've been reading this weekend's New York Times mutual funds report sitting on our kitchen table a little bit at a time for breakfast and something we saw in, "Don't Pay Tax Twice On Your Fund Gains" changed how we thought about the old adage of "Buy Low, Sell High."

The article quotes Duncan Richardson, chief equity investment officer of the Eaton Vance financial service company as saying,

"I've never seen a great investment that you won't have another opportunity" to buy back at a lower price, after the requisite 30-day period."

We were discussing expanding our mutual fund portfolio (not hard, as it only contains ONE fund right now) with our step-father and mentioned adding in some international and European funds.

He agreed, cautioning to make sure we looked into funds with low expense ratios.

Then, he, a man who will proudly die never having been accused of being a smidge too politically correct, added,

What Are "12b-1 Fees?"

Another factor to consider when choosing a mutual fund are its 12b-1 fees, which are basically money the fund managers take out to pay for running and marketing the fund.

Vanguard says:

"Some funds charge a 12b-1 fee to pay the fund's marketing and distribution costs. This fee, which is incorporated into the expense ratio, can include a sales charge to compensate sales people."

Feeling looser with its tongue, the Securities And Exchange Commission says: