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2 Comments

1. 

   ptstrobl:

   You’d want to invest in the same mutual fund company in order to take advantage of breakpoints. Most fund companies have a 50K breakpoint, so don’t let anyone at a bank or elsewhere talk you into diversifying into more than one fund family.

   If you’re going to use the funds within the next 5-10 years, then you don’t want to get too aggressive, even if you’re an aggressive investor. Have your father take a risk tolerance questionaire online to find out where he falls, and then invest accordingly.

   Find a fund family that’s strong in bond funds, because that’s where a lot of the money is going to be going as your time horizon is approached. In the past, I’ve used Oppenheimer, American Funds, Franklin Templeton, MFS, and Fidelity.

   Good luck.

   October 29, 2008, 3:06 pm
2. 

   pauly51_2001:

   If your father joins a company that has a 401K, they can roll over the savings fund into the new company’s program. This would be a time savings not haveing two accounts.

   As far as asset allocation goes, I think that you should consider an aggressive strategy compared to a risk averse one. I would suggest:

   10% Bonds
   15% Small Caps
   15% International
   60% SP 500 Equity Index

   The rationale is as follows: a small amount of bonds will reduce the portfollio’s risk and the other investments will help to diversify your assets. The Equity Index funds have generally beat about 75% of the actively managed funds and they have lower management fees.

   Best regards,

   Pauly

   November 1, 2008, 5:22 pm