Extra Cash to put into an IRA today. Which?

[kcore2000]

I have around $11,000 to put into an IRA today for 2014 and 2015 but having a hard time decipher the difference (if there really is) between Admiral Shares, Investor Shares and ETF's. What are peoples thoughts on these below ...

Mutual Funds
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares (VFINX)
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

ETF
Vanguard S&P 500 Exchange Traded Fund ETF (VOO)

[tarheeldan]

Admiral shares has lower annual costs, highest minimum investment, but can buy partial shares.
Investor shares higher annual costs than Admiral, lower minimum investment, otherwise similar.
ETF has transactions cost but no/low minimum investment (not sure, haven't tried but that's typical) but you have to buy whole shares not partials.

[SuperSecretName]

cross off vfinx - no need to pay extra.

vfiax and voo are basically the same.  just have to decide if you want mutual fund (partial shares) or etf (no partial, small bid/ask spread)

[seattlecyclone]

The money market fund is basically a place to park cash that is left over after purchasing a whole number of ETF shares. You'll earn a token interest rate on it, but the balance is unlikely to change much at all.

I tend to prefer Vanguard's mutual funds over the ETFs. You can buy fractional shares, which means you're investing every dollar you want to invest. You also don't have to go through the hassle of setting a limit price or losing money to the bid/ask spread.

[SuperSecretName]

another difference between ETF and mutual fund is that ETFs are purchased throughout the day but mutual funds are bought at the closing price once calculated.  not good/bad, just a difference.

mutual funds are easier for the novice investor.