What should I be looking for in pension fund performance history graphs?

[Jim2007]

The most important thing, in fact, probably the only thing, is to choose funds with the lowest % costs ie the lowest profit margins for the companies. These are obviously not the ones the companies want you to buy but hey, it's your money

Simplistic and so, so wrong! Price is important, but just as buying the cheapest product often leads to defects and customer dissatisfaction, investing in the cheapest fund often fails to deliver.

 

[RickyJ]

Thanks SBarrett for the recommendation - Smarter Investing by Tim Hale. I am just over 100 pages in and have found it an excellent and enjoyable read so far. The author recommends passive investments (as opposed to active managed funds), such as index funds but as he writes mainly about the UK market where tax efficient funds are available, is it still worth investing in them in Ireland when any gains are taxed at 41%?

 

[elacsaplau]

Smarter Investing by Tim Hale. I am just over 100 pages in and have found it an excellent and enjoyable read so far. The author recommends passive investments (as opposed to active managed funds), such as index funds......

Just to separate the investment from taxation and other considerations, are we all agreed that passive management leads to better outcomes than active management for most of the people most of the time?!