[Joshuaj22]

Hello All,

Have been doing research and although I may be wrong I think that the Fidelity Freedom Fund 2035 has a much higher expense ratio (0.79) than Vanguard's Target Retirement Date 2035 fund (0.20). I am curious about the large discrepancy. I have researched and decided to go with Fidelity for my 403b due to the fact that Vanguard is not an option in my school district.

Any advice on good index funds with Fidelity? It seems as if they have somewhat high minimum investments ($10,000 for the Spartan Total Market Index Fund) for many of their funds which makes getting started difficult. Does anyone know if there are exceptions to the minimums for individual investors using a 403b?

I have taken advice and am in no big hurry, but I appreciate hearing from multiple perspectives of experienced investors.

Thanks,

Josh

[apteacher]

Fidelity generally does not require any starting minimums for 403b accounts. You can open the account with no money at all. Fidelity index funds are some of the lowest cost (.10%) in the business.

Fidelity's Freedom Funds are more expensive than Vanguard's Target Retirement Funds because they (Fidelity) use actively'managed funds, whereas Vanguard uses index funds.