News on Youtube Apr 23 2018

- In today's world, you can invest in a low cost portfolio

and save thousands of dollars in investment fees.

There are multiple services and many big companies

that have commission free ETF's,

no account minimum IRA's,

and free stock trading.

But, if you want a little more guidance

and hands on financial advice,

paying for it can be worthwhile.

But before you do, make sure you fully understand

what you're paying for, and all of the associated costs.

Welcome to The College Investor.

I'm Stefanie O'Connell from StefanieOConnell.com,

here to share what fees to watch out for

when investing with a financial advisor.

(ambient music)

Fees are the biggest cost to investors over the long run,

so minimizing them should be a top priority.

But what specifically do you need to watch out for?

First, avoid loaded funds,

meaning funds that charge you a fee to invest.

You can spot a loaded fund

because it will typically be a class A or class B fund,

but that's just a general rule,

so make sure you ask your advisor.

They must disclose this by law.

Second, be mindful of expense ratios.

This is the percentage of your investment

that you'll pay each year

to the mutual fund or ETF company.

It's an annual fee, so it compounds with your investment.

Many basic ETF's and mutual funds have expense ratios

of less than .25%.

Typically, your expense ratio will be

lower with stock index funds,

and higher with bonds and international funds.

The bottom line, look for the lowest expense ratio possible.

Third, look out for commissions.

Commissions are what you pay your broker to invest.

You should look to avoid commissions wherever possible,

but don't avoid commissions at the expense of

higher expense ratios.

For example, if you have a commission free fund

at .10% expense ratio,

and an ETF that you'll pay $4.95 for,

but has just a .06% expense ratio,

go with the lower expense ratio.

Since it's a percentage of your investment,

that's more money than any commission.

When working with a financial advisor,

you wanna make sure they're being upfront, honest,

and transparent about these fees, and any others.

This means disclosing total fees paid

to the financial advisor, including direct service fees,

ongoing fees and commissions paid by investment products,

total fees paid to the broker,

that is commissions to invest,

total fees paid to the fund company, or expense ratios,

and total fees to execute the financial plan.

Check out the link in the description below

to learn more about how investment fees

can cost you in the long run,

and what you can do to avoid them.

Plus, get access to our free investment fee disclosure form,

that can help bring you more transparency

to the costs associated with investing.

Financial advice, true fiduciary interest, and more.

The bottom line is that you don't need to be gouged

to get solid financial advice,

and you should always know what you're paying for.

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For more infomation >> Investing Fees Explained! How Honest Financial Advisors Should Disclosure Their Fees - Duration: 3:38.

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Plot Holes in Writing - How Does Star Wars Get Away with Them? - Duration: 4:26.

Star Wars: a New Hope is silly, unrealistic, and full of plot holes.

Then why does it feel so perfect anyway?

How come the non-existent science or the two dozen plot holes don't ruin this movie,

but can sabotage so many others?

Is there a secret to how Star Wars tells its story so we don't care about logic gaps?

Yes, and that secret is tone.

Think of tone as the watchdog that every story needs.

It tells audiences what to expect in terms of mood and presentation.

What works for the story, and what doesn't.

It's clear from the beginning.

Civil war, you say?

I have an idea of what civil war looks like, and you may have another idea of what

civil war looks like.

But what is the right tone for a civil war in Star Wars?

Obviously, soldiers shooting at each other, but don't expect blood, missing limbs, or

dirt flying about.

Moreover, the tone ditches all attempts at realistic behavior.

For example, nobody bothers to build a barricade in the corridor or block the entrance.

Same goes for basic tactics like ducking, breaking cover, or laying down suppressive fire.

Realistic military maneuvering takes time, and usually it's more mechanical than dramatic.

For comparison, the Battle of Yavin takes 14 minutes and it's pretty fast-paced.

Pickett's Charge on Gettysburg takes up over 20 minutes of screen time, and it's

less dynamic.

One, of course, is fantasy in space, and the other a historical epic.

Two different approaches lead to two different tones.

For more examples, we know that war can be brutal and random, but Star Wars doesn't

want to dwell on atrocities or overall grimness.

Vader's cruelty toward his captive is nowhere near as revolting or graphic

as it could be in real life.

And how about the soundtrack?

From the main theme onward, it's obvious music will play a key role in setting the

tone.

Having to choose between gloomy or optimistic, the soundtrack typically goes for the latter.

Check out the world of difference that a single track can make.

Either track fits what's on the screen, but only one track is in keeping with the

prevalent tone.

All of this combined makes it clear that Star Wars is going for a simplistic depiction of

war, not an accurate one.

So, do plot holes get a pass just because they happen to be in a space opera?

Short answer is "no."

But they are easier to put up with.

That being said, if you start indulging in plot holes, there's a risk of getting exceedingly

comfortable with them.

The earliest one happens when the Imperial gunners don't open fire on the escape pod.

Why's that?

Yeah, but there are plenty of robots in this universe.

The scene is even more annoying because it implies other escape pods have been jettisoned.

But later, an officer says.

Implying that only one pod was activated in the course of the battle.

The funny thing is, you can delete this brief moment and the movie wouldn't lose anything.

It's not the end of the world, but it's poor craftsmanship.

For now, remember that a strong, consistent tone can solve the issue of plot holes.

Not to avoid them, but to reduce their impact.

Thanks for watching.

If you want to help out, you can do so by subscribing and sharing my videos, but if

you can also afford to pitch in a few bucks via Patreon, that would buy me a lot more

time to put into the channel.

This has been One Dodgy Dude telling you, "go write a great story.

If you dare."