Have used Vanguard since 1979.  There is no better mutual fund company; period!

Randy, you are absolutely right.  The marketing success of the no-loads, requires that their freakish followers  pay more attention to all the exhausted hype regarding fees with little regard to results.  At the end of the day, results are what matters. Independent thought matters. You expect too much of these people. Bogel know his audience. Ignorance is bliss.

Has anyone ever tried pickled cabbage with cheese? I can assure you all that it's quite delicious!

Gary...One year ago I self-directed all my $1768000.00 into  Annuities with several Companies.  Not AIG {Thank God}.  They were paying 6% for ten years then 4 percent for the next whatever.  I will hit my goal of three milliom in time for my retirement and will have slept well

Annuities themselves are just as much of a rip-off, have you looked at the fees they charge you?  If you were investing that IRA 1 year ago you would have been better off in treasuries which were yielding like 5%+

Depending on your time frame I'd still have a diversified portfolio that includes equities, at least 20%, especially now that stocks are down (well S&P500 at 850 was a great time to get in, its 920 now)

I think there's a difference between an actual increase of a fee, which generally requires a shareholder vote, and the elimination of a voluntary fee waiver reduction by The American Funds Group. There are likely very few groups in the mutual fund industry who would have voluntarily lowered their fees. This seems especially true considering that the reductions came at a time when the financial markets were doing very well and everyone was making money. People were fat and happy, there was no real need to make those reductions. The American Funds Group is still one of the lowest cost fund groups in the country.

Secondly, investing should always be about money management first, not fees. You should ask yourself, how is my money being managed? If you like the style or system of management, then review costs.

Finally, I suggest reading a book called, Capital. It is the only sanctioned book about the American Funds Group and it long and storied history. It was written by Charles D. Ellis. At the time of its writing, Charles D. Ellis was on the board of directors of the Vanguard Group.

I have been with Vanguard for 25 years and am very satisfied. With the equity markets dead at the present time, I find Vanguard's hi yield bond fund the best play in town. 10% return while waiting for the market t turn around. In fact this fund has been up for the past 2 weeks. Thus nice dividsnd play and now a capital appreciation increase. The best of both worlds with a low cost mutual fund company. Vanquard is a great company

The mutual funds have the audacity to increase fees.  For good performance ?  What a joke.  There are well over 10,000 mutual funds and less than a dozen actually managed to generate a positive rate of return in 2008.  The reality of the situation is that most mutual funds and their managers do not deserve a pay increase.  A large segment of the investing people has realized in the last few years that professional money management does not necessarily mean that the mutual fund managers have a great track record for picking stock winners.  In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.  That is why more Average Joe and Jane investors are putting their money into an exchange traded fund (ETF) which are like any other shares traded on a stock exchange.  No management fees are directly paid by the purchaser.  Just a commission when the investor buys and sells the ETF just like with any stock.   More info at www.exchangetradedfunds.ca

Why in the world would any sane person own a bond fund or bond ETF ? Its like renting instead of owning . vanguard says they are going to start bond etf's. right now there are a bunch of etfs like TIPs etf and all sorts of crap a million bond funds. The value of these things swing around like a drunken sailor.

Its just nuts. has anyone who buys a bond fund even stopped to consider what a bond even is ?

mindless blind investing in a cleptocratic idiocracy.

Would anyone like a nice cup of tea with a slice of fruitcake?