Are IRA mutual funds better than IRA CDs for a 28 yr old?

Question

I am 28 and have saved $35K in IRA CDs. The broker at my bank tells me this is ridiculous for someone my age because the CD interest rate basically gets cancelled out by inflation. Should I switch to mutual funds b/c of my age? I understand that he can diversify it between low and high risk. But I worked very hard to save this money and am afraid of losing it. How much actual risk is involved? Should I keep any amount in CDs? Is he right? Thank you.

Answer 1

Mutual funds are going to show better returns over the long term than CDs. Since this is money that you will not be needing any time soon you can afford to take some risks with it.

Keep in mind not all mutual funds are equal. Make sure that you invest in a no-load low-expense fund. A fund with a high expense ratio will also eat up a lot of your money over the years. I would recommend one of the index funds from Vanguard (expense ratio 0.2%).

Answer 2

Calling CDs an investment is ridiculous for anyone. The return on good mutual funds is much better than CDs as long as you are investing for at least 5 years. At 28, you have more than 30 years before you can withdraw from an IRA without penalty. Mutual funds are investments in the stock market. The US stock market has NEVER lost money over ANY 10 year period. The historical average return is 12%.

Answer 3

With your age and the fact that your IRA money should be invested for over 10 years a good mix of mutual funds would be a wise choice. Before you make the change though study and learn something about mutual funds and the costs involved. Brokers are really just salesman looking to move their product a lot of times so get a prospectus that lists all the fees and research a variety of funds. When you have learned enough to feel comfortable then diversify your investments. A good mix of growth and income funds should provide a good return while moderating your risk

Answer 4

I think you're doing great meeting your financial goals!

From an economic standpoint, your banker is right. Over the long run, mutual funds have a lot less risk because the fund manager diversifies that risk over a large variety of stocks. I'd consider a market based fund, that traditionally returns around 11% year after year.

Since you are so young, you have a huge time frame to work with. If the idea is to compound over a long time frame, the better the return the better the long term result.

Answer 5

right now you are likely only getting a return of 3-5 percent on your investment and about half or more of that is getting cancelled out by inflation. if you were to invest in mutual funds they typically get a long run return of 10- 15 percent. also a cd is not as liquid as a mutual fund. this means your money is locked up for a long period of time an d you cannot access it. if it were in a mutual fund and something happened like you losing your job or an unexpected expense you can more easily access your money.

Answer 6

I found a fund with a 9 year average of 12%, no negative years.

You want a conservative fund that tries not to make mistakes. I've switched funds a few times, but am happy again. Look for consistency, not big years.

If it could continue that, the money would double every six years. For you, by age 60, that would be a factor of 32. $1,000,000 with no further investment. You can still be very safe.

If no house, its time. In 11 years, my house has gone from $20,000 in equity to $550,000 in equity.

Answer 7

CDs are as low on the risk scale as money markets and treasury bills.

He's correct - at your age the goal is growth of your retirement money. Just don't get involved in any bank B funds ;)

Ask him about no-load mutual funds.

Answer 8

He's right. You need to move the money into mutual funds.

I would suggest a target retirement fund. You select a fund based on the year of your retirement. The fund will initially have more stocks and less bonds and/or cash. As you near retirement age, it automatically adjusts to less stocks and more bonds and/or cash.

At 28, and assuming you will retire at age 65, that means you have 37 years until retirement and would retire in the year 2044.
Vanguard has a target retirement fund for those who would retire in 2045. It's called Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund.
Here's a link to it...
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/funds/snapshot?FundId=0306&FundIntExt=INT
Since its inception, it has had a return of 14.14%.
For the last year, it has returned 20.39%. Here's a link to it's performance...
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/funds/performance?FundId=0306&FundIntExt=INT&DisplayBarChart=false.
Vanguard is a really easy company to work with. They will help you through the entire process of transferring the money.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

at such a young age, you would do much better investing in a no load stock mutual fund...at your youthful age, you should not be satisfied with 5% cd in your retirement account...that is for old people like me who need to protect their money...at 28 you want money to grow, so get yourself a vanguard or fidelity account and enjoy the riches it will bring...good luck to you my boy

Answer 10

Don't do IRA'S. They are outdated along with 401K's. Either do a Roth IRA that grows tax deffered and when you turn 59 1/2 and start to pull it out, you won't have to pay any taxes and it wil never affect your soc. sec.

At your age there is something even better. If you are interested in getting info on it and how it works, e-mail me and I will answer you some time this weekend. Also let me know what state you live in.

[e-mail]
Weath Stratigist
DOI 0E60500