Adding to investments monthly...?

[Eidal]

I'm interested in investing 1k and adding another 1k every month. I really have no idea where to begin, and I was hoping someone would have some advice or be able to point me in the correct direction.

Its my understanding that certain types of investments would be costly were I to add to them monthly (fees involved?), so if anyone could edify me on what I should be looking into I would be most appreciative.

[RocketManJames]

You might want to look into doing this with various mutual funds. There are many that do not have any fees (except for maintenance fees if you have a small balance). You might want to check out Vanguard or T.Rowe Price, for example.

You can set it up so that automatic deposits are made each month. But, be aware that some funds might have an initial investment minimum greater than $1K... I believe many of the Vanguard ones have a $3K initial investment minimum.

If you're adding 1K each month, you probably want to avoid any investments that would cost you commissions, since even $10-15 would be 1-1.5%. If you were going to go with investments that would require you to pay commissions, you might even want to bunch your trades. Perhaps putting in $3K per quarter.

-RMJ

[CardMinger]

Read my post in the recent thread about index funds...althought it doesnt exactly apply to you it should be food for thought. Let me know if you have other questions...Im running late that's why I dont have time to write a more specific answer.

Vanguard S&P500 Index Fund is probably for you...

[MaxPower]

If you want to buy individual stocks, I recommend getting into a dividend reinvestment program (or DRIP). They are a little tricky to start and manage, but you can make monthly stock purchases and usually pay absolutely no fees. Also your dividends wil be used to purchase more shares.

[DiamondDave]

The fees vary a lot between different companies' dividend reinvestment plans and direct stock purchase plans.