Author Topic: Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help  (Read 1294 times)

jred

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Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help
« on: June 18, 2019, 08:50:09 PM »
Hi all~
I am a brand new investor/FiRE follower, and I’ve become interested investing a portion of my savings in a large cap index fund. I was attracted to the Fidelity FNILX mutual fund, because of the zero expense ratio and no minimum to start. However, as I get familiar with the FIRE movement, I keep hearing about Vanguard... Could someone explain to me if there is a benefit to investing in a more established fund like one of Vanguard’s S&P funds vs. a new Fidelity S&P fund?
Thank you in advance!

Saving in Austin

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Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2019, 09:53:11 PM »
I'm not sure that it will matter results wise to your portfolio either way.

Vanguard is more like a co-op, owned by the investors.

Fidelity, like most banks and brokerage houses, is in it for the fees.

VLCAX (Vanguard Large Cap) has an expense ratio of .05 which is not as cheap as Fidelity's new funds with 0 expense ratios.

Fidelity recently introduced the 0 fee funds as loss leaders in response to Vanguard.

I have my HSA with Fidelity but the rest of my investments are with Vanguard. I don't think it is worth the trouble to switch everything to save a few dollars.

Jim Collins talks about Fidelity if you scroll down this blog post:

https://jlcollinsnh.com/2018/09/25/what-we-own-and-why-we-own-it-2018/

« Last Edit: June 18, 2019, 09:55:28 PM by Saving in Austin »

slappy

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Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2019, 07:32:50 AM »
Its all the same. Flip a coin. The important thing is to actually get invested.

jred

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Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2019, 11:41:46 AM »
Thank you to both of your responses! Very helpful and exactly what I needed to hear. I really appreciate your responses!

BicycleB

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Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity Index Fund Q- newbie needs help
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2019, 09:15:21 PM »
Jim Collins has a deeper dive; summarizes the various reasons I and many others favor Vanguard:

https://jlcollinsnh.com/2012/09/07/stocks-part-x-what-if-vanguard-gets-nuked/

 

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