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Almost Tossed My Q1 Mutual Fund Statements In The Trash
On a tangent, I've wondered for quite a while now why everyone isn't essentially doing everything electronically. I can understand if individual fund companies don't want to maintain a website where you can log in and get everything you need or want, but email seems like a workable alternative that has to be less expensive than snail mail.
What do folks see as the main advantages of going all-electronic?
I do both depending on the particular company and type of document. Still prefer getting annual statements in the mail - and also seem to get more out of shareholder reports from their usually colorful and well produced print copies. We make sure the annual printed statements get stored in a secure SD Box.
Our Internet here is still slow by most people's standards (though not as slow as the mail). Printing is a bit of a pain, as the tablets we rely on don't pair very well with a printer. Main advantage I can see in going all-electronic would be that it is more secure than the mail. (Mail can and does get lost, delivered to wrong addresses and stolen.)
@hank, the way I look at things everyone has their own preferences and I have no issue with that. Like you, there are things I prefer reading on paper and other things I'm happy to read on a laptop or tablet. But if I was a guy who was happy reading everything on a computer screen I wouldn't want to subsidize all those who want everything on paper and if I was a guy who wanted everything on paper I don't think others should have to subsidize me. Essentially I figure the expense ratio has to cover all those expenses in one way or another and I'd rather pay lower expenses and manage my own costs for whatever I want to print.
I think I get things fastest if I can just log in to a website for my statement, but email shouldn't be far behind and the mail tends to take a good amount longer. I'm not an environmentalist but I do think about all the paper that gets mailed to people only to be thrown away and for me personally I think archiving the things I want to keep is a lot easier when it comes electronically rather than in paper.
I understand what you're saying about printing being a pain in some cases. I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to replace my printer and got one where I can send an email to the printer and it prints whatever is attached. That's made it so I almost never have to connect anything to the printer, but I'm not sure how long that technology has been around or how pervasive it is among different manufacturers.
I prefer the electronic versions over paper. I can keep what I want and file it in a orderly way so I can retrieve it. As for printing, the only thing I print are e-tickets for flights but those can be stored on the iPhone now. Printers and the ink cartridges in particular are an expense I can do away with.
Comments
I do both depending on the particular company and type of document. Still prefer getting annual statements in the mail - and also seem to get more out of shareholder reports from their usually colorful and well produced print copies. We make sure the annual printed statements get stored in a secure SD Box.
Our Internet here is still slow by most people's standards (though not as slow as the mail). Printing is a bit of a pain, as the tablets we rely on don't pair very well with a printer. Main advantage I can see in going all-electronic would be that it is more secure than the mail. (Mail can and does get lost, delivered to wrong addresses and stolen.)
I think I get things fastest if I can just log in to a website for my statement, but email shouldn't be far behind and the mail tends to take a good amount longer. I'm not an environmentalist but I do think about all the paper that gets mailed to people only to be thrown away and for me personally I think archiving the things I want to keep is a lot easier when it comes electronically rather than in paper.
I understand what you're saying about printing being a pain in some cases. I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to replace my printer and got one where I can send an email to the printer and it prints whatever is attached. That's made it so I almost never have to connect anything to the printer, but I'm not sure how long that technology has been around or how pervasive it is among different manufacturers.
(I think we could get a printer setup like that to work here. Something to consider down the road.)