Exchange traded funds vs mutual funds
What they have in common:
They can be in cash accounts or retirement accounts.
They hold a variety of stocks/bonds/commodities etc.
Where they differ:
ETFs:
Generally follow the trend of earnings of an index such as S and P 500.
Can be actively managed or passively.
Have lower costs.
Have lower taxation only when sold.
Transactions are between stockholders and buyers not managers of the fund.
Traded on the exchange.
Options can be done.
More liquid investment.
Can be traded quickly.
Have leveraged etfs that perform better than the index fund by using margins.
Can specify investment industries.
Have not been around as long as mutual funds.
Mutual funds:
Generally managed.
Higher cost.
Not always follow indexes.
You buy in and it is not as liquid.
Takes longer to get cash out.
Gets taxed by capital gains.
Not traded on exchange.
No options.
No leverage funds.
Have been around longer.
As you can see there are different ways of growing money. If you want something actively managed then you can get either a managed ETF or mutual fund. If you want a more liquid investment then pick an ETF.
The math:
Both ETFs and mutual funds can give you a good yield. For example:
Fidelity blue chip fund mutual fund (fbgrx)
Expense 0.79%
10 year yield 22.27% per year
Total yield 200.99% from year 2000
If you invested $10000 back 10 years you would have $74000.
Invesco (QQQ) trust ETF
Expense 0.20%
10 year yield 22.38% per year
Total yield 303.34% from year 2000
If you invested $10000 back 10 years you would have $75000.
As you can see similar results. QQQ is less expensive and you will probably save money on taxes and fees and have a slightly higher yield in addition to other benefits of an ETF. This ETF is not managed.
Explaining leveraged ETFs:
They are meant to be a short term investment when you are bullish on the ETF or bearish. At most only hold for 1 week or less. They use options trades and debt (margin) to increase the investment to get a higher yield. They are not meant to be long term investments. They increase quickly but also fall faster and take longer to recover or never do. If it drops when you are investing in a bullish ETF it will take a greater increase in value to make up the loss. It may never come back to where it was because of the loss in margin/options that were used to inflate the yield. In essence, think of them as somewhat artificially inflated as they even when studied as long term investments gave at most 1.5x the index but having much more risk and fees. The change in value changes each day and is reset. You can also bet the other direction and buy into a bearish ETF if you think stocks will drop. Avoid these if you do not understand them. I have watched some of them and made some money on them but they can go the other direction on you even if the stock they hold the most of is going the way you want. I would recommend avoiding them.
Example:
Direxion daily technology bull 3x ETF leveraged (TECL)
Expense 1.01%
10 year 53.99% per year
If you invested $10000 back 10 years you would have $749000.
If the market increases 1% that day you get 3% that day; if it drops 1% then you drop 3%. If you drop then you lose the margin/options that they used and end up with less. Example: you bought 1 share at $60. It increased by 10% in the index and therefore 30% in this leveraged ETF. You now have $78. If the index then drops 20%. If you were only in the index you would have $48. The leveraged ETF has a drop of 60%. You would then have $24. The rewards can be great but so is the risk. You must be sure of the direction you are betting and be accepting that you could lose all of the investment.
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