Marketwatch lists five no-load mutual funds experts say will be good vehicles for saving for a child's private high school tuition. The criteria they've chosen for the list are low fee, high performing funds suitable for investors with a relatively short investment horizon.
Our take: Investing 100% of a portfolio that needs to be tapped within ten years in stocks is a bad idea. Two of the funds on this list – Dodge & Cox International Stock and Oakmark Global can fall up to 50% in a very bad market for stocks, with 25% pullbacks relatively common.
Another word of caution: today it is fashionable to point to international and global funds as the top choices for a portfolio. A few years ago, most would have gone with U.S. large cap growth or tech funds. Dodge & Cox International Stock has been on our favorite funds list (part of our Powerfund Portfolios service) for international funds since 2002 – when we started the list. However, with such widespread popularity today (and tens of billions in relatively recent new assets) resulting from a five year return of around 150%, investors looking to move money to such a fund could be making a similar mistake investors made in 2000 piling into hot Janus funds.
Note that Oakmark Global has a 2% redemption fee if sold within 60 days. For new investors, Oakmark Global can only be purchased directly from the fund company.
Prep Your Portfolio
Marketwatch lists five no-load mutual funds experts say will be good vehicles for saving for a child's private high school tuition. The criteria they've chosen for the list are low fee, high performing funds suitable for investors with a relatively short investment horizon.
Our take: Investing 100% of a portfolio that needs to be tapped within ten years in stocks is a bad idea. Two of the funds on this list – Dodge & Cox International Stock and Oakmark Global can fall up to 50% in a very bad market for stocks, with 25% pullbacks relatively common.
Another word of caution: today it is fashionable to point to international and global funds as the top choices for a portfolio. A few years ago, most would have gone with U.S. large cap growth or tech funds. Dodge & Cox International Stock has been on our favorite funds list (part of our Powerfund Portfolios service) for international funds since 2002 – when we started the list. However, with such widespread popularity today (and tens of billions in relatively recent new assets) resulting from a five year return of around 150%, investors looking to move money to such a fund could be making a similar mistake investors made in 2000 piling into hot Janus funds.
Note that Oakmark Global has a 2% redemption fee if sold within 60 days. For new investors, Oakmark Global can only be purchased directly from the fund company.
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