TDA ETF for HSA, first time using ETF, help please :)

[live4soccer7]

I have an HSA account with HSA bank and I have the associated TDA account in order to invest my HSA money.

I believe the no-commission ETFs are the way to go, however it isn't as straight forward as simply saying, BUY this etf and be done with it. I want to simply buy and hold a fund and don't want stop losses or take profits set etc...

There are the following options that I'm not sure what to choose for them.

Order Type: (drop down menu with selections)
Price: (I enter a price)
Time-in-Force: (drop down menu with selections)

I know I could take an educated guess at what I should be choosing, but I'd rather get input from those that actually know what they're doing with this.

Thanks in advance for any information provided.

[Steeze]

Order Type: You will most likely use one of two options the "Limit" order or the "Market" order.

Limit Order - This will limit your purchase price to a maximum of whatever price you put in the "Price" box. If the ask price is above your limit price, you will not successfully purchase anything. Once the ask price is equal to or less than your limit price, the trade will occur and you will be the proud owner of a new ETF.

Market Order -  This will place an order for the ETF at the current asking price.

You can look the other options up on investopedia, but for buy and hold investing these two should be sufficient.

Time-In-Force: This is the time frame you want this trade to occur. You have two options "DAY" and "GTC" which is "Good Till Cancelled"

Day - This will limit the trade to within the regular trading hours on the day you place the order. Of the trade fails to execute in that time frame the order will expire.

GTC - This will keep the trade open indefinitely, the order does not expire.


These days I am purchasing a similar amount of funds on a regular schedule and do not pay attention to the daily price of the ETFs. For this reason I usually place "Market" orders with Time-In-Force set at "DAY" and place my trade a minimum of 1 hour after the opening bell to allow any major swings to occur prior to purchase. No need to try to time the purchase for the best price of the day. Some people swear by limit orders, but for me, I am buying in $500 increments and a few cents per share difference in cost isn't going to amount to much 20 years from now when I am withdrawing these funds. YMMV - I highly suggest looking up all the terms you do not know on Investopedia.com - Educating yourself on investing and the tools to do so will be well worth your time and energy.

- Cheers

[Rob_bob]

It sounds like you are asking how to place an order, not what ETF to use as well?

I use TDA.

Order type, Market will be the current price the ETF is trading at.  Good on most normal volume trading days but not good if the market is volatile.  I always use the Limit order, you enter the price you are willing to pay and you will get it at that price or lower, UNLESS the ETF is trending up, no one will sell you the ETF below the current market price.

Time in force.  If you want to buy at the current market price then Day is fine.  If you are trying to get a better price (lower) and are willing to wait some time for the market price to come to you the then use GTC, Good unTil Cancelled.

When I am ready to buy something I'm not looking to nickle and dime the price, I'm in it for the long haul.  I enter a price slightly higher than the Last Trade price and select Limit order and Day, then Review order, make sure I didn't goof something and hit submit.

[live4soccer7]

Thank you very much for the information. That is exactly what I was looking for! I apologize about the confusing title.

[sanderh]

If you are trying to get a better price (lower) and are willing to wait some time for the market price to come to you the then use GTC, Good unTil Cancelled.

Putting in a limit order that will not be immediately filled is like giving away an option. It only gets filled if the price moves against you, in which case someone else on the market makes money from your limit order.