It’s odd.  Every financial adviser I’ve ever encountered swears up and down that their actively managed fund will out perform index funds hands down.  However, statistics show otherwise.  Statistics show that index funds out perform managed funds 80% of the time.  On top of that, of the 20% of managed funds that do out perform the index funds, how is one supposed to know which managed funds, or more importantly, WHEN the managed funds will be in that top 20%.

Lets take a quick look at the differences between actively managed funds and index funds.

Actively Managed Funds

The name is pretty obvious with actively managed funds.  It simply means that there is an individual or group of individuals that watch your funds.  They buy and sell based on their professional expertise.  Expenses are typically much higher than index funds because someone is actually “watching” your money.  Fees can be 1.5% or even higher.

Index Funds

Index funds are simple.  Index funds have literally a spread of all stocks on the market.  A little of this, a little of that.  Index funds do not have anyone watching your money.  As the market fluctuates as a whole, so do these funds.  They are bench marked against some of the biggest indexes like the DOW, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and many more.  Fees for these funds can be as low as .02%.

After reading the difference of the two types of funds, you’re probably thinking you’ve got to be kidding me!  I can let this run on auto-pilot and do better than the professionals?  The short answer is yes, or at least 80% of the time.  Remember that even though 20% do out perform the index funds, it is nearly impossible to tell which funds will, and even more difficult, when they will.  Heck, even if you do win, the margin of difference is usually so low the fees eat up the rest of superior gains.

In a nutshell, stick to index funds for the long term.  These funds are available in any style, conservative, moderate, aggressive, you name it.  Keep in mind, you will be investing for 20, 30, or more years.  Stick with your plan.