Are the funds that TRowePrice sell load or no-load?

Question

Also can you explain the difference.

Answer 1

I am pretty sure all of T Rowe Price's funds are no-load.

A "load", essentially, is a sales charge, i.e., a commission to the broker or adviser that sells the fund. "No load" funds do not assess that fee.

Loads can be as much as 5.75% of your purchase price. For example, if you invest $1000 in Load Fund X, you will only see $942.50 going into your account. The other $57.50 went to your broker.

There are different types of loads. A front-end load is charged to you when you buy the fund. My example in the paragraph above is of a front-end load.

Some funds have back-end loads. Think of it as an exit fee. For example, if you invest $1000 in a back-end load fund, all $1000 is invested in the fund. Let's say 2 years later, your fund has gone up by 20% (and you now have $1200) and you want to sell. If the back-end load is 3%, you will receive $1200 less 3%, or $1164. The other $36 goes to your broker.

There are other types of loads, but these are the simplest to explain.

You may wonder if load funds perform better than no-load funds. Most observers say no, other things being equal. The fund does not benefit from the load directly, so you are not really "buying" any additional expertise. The load is simply a marketing expense and a way to reward brokers for sellig the fund.

There are other fees that a fund, even a no-load fund, may charge. You should consider these as well when evaluating a fund to buy.