Faced with a choice between a load fund and a similar no-load fund, you need to ask yourself whether the expense of a load is likely to be justified by the results. This is levied when you sell fund shares. Often designed on a sliding scale over several years, it encourages long-term investing rather than market timing. The 12b-1 fee is named for a government rule allowing funds to charge a marketing fee. It is typically paid to brokers as a reward to keep investors in the fund, rather than allowing brokers to collect fees for switching investors from one fund to another.
Funds often list an annual fee but subtract a portion of the fee from customer accounts.
A fee of more than 0.25 percent is high. Short-term trading fee. The money is intended to compensate for the expenses of quick turnover related to market timing. Annual account-maintenance fee. Some funds charge shareholders if their investments fall below a stated minimum.