How Long Does it Take for an Index Fund Order to Transact?

I placed a sell order on some shares of a S&P 500 Index Fund (VFIAX) with Schwab about 40 minutes ago and it still shows as "Open".

I haven't sold anything in a long time but in the past I'd get a conformation with the sell price per share & time stamp within a few minutes...do index funds work differently?

What's that, why am I selling something?

Well, since you asked, my seventeen y/o daughter is headed off to the University of Nevada at Reno this August and I want to pay off my mortgage now so I'll have time to stockpile money for her tuition and board.

BTW, she's majoring in biology and I asked her if she knew about crispr gene editing last Sunday and I got a thirty minute, well reasoned and articulate reply including an excellent critique of the ethical ramifications. 

People love, love, love to rip on Gen Z's or what not but I know of at least one that has her E36 M3 together.

Anyway, when do I get my money...I've owned four homes over the course of 38 years and I can not wait to be mortgage freeeeeeee.  

I do not know about Schwab's funds, but for Vanguard funds not held as an ETF, the order closes at the end of the day, at the price per share that the fund hits at the end of the day.

Sorry, to clarify: in this case, "end of the day" is the close of the trading day, 4pm Eastern.

When I sold mine from fidelity I think it took 2-3 days. But that was mutual fund not index.

In reply to dculberson :

That's what I was afraid of...if the market $hits all over itself in the next 108 minures, I'l take a hit.

VFIAX is a mutual fund.  Those transactions usually happen at the end of day (closing price) and there may be a slight delay to get your $

In reply to RevRico :

2-3 days to transact or to reconsile?  I can't imagine it not transacting at least at the closing price the day you placed the sell order.  I can see them placing a hold back for a few days to insure the trade was legitmate which is fine with me...I just want to know what the shares sold for to-the-penny.  With that, I can work out the capital gains tax and know what my net proceeds are to-the-penny.   

In reply to ProDarwin :

I bought VFINX (S&P 500 Index fund) 20+ years ago but when I went to sell some of it today, the ticker symbol at Schwab had been changed at some point to VFIAX and the share prices for the two were identical. 

RX Reven' said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

I bought VFINX (S&P 500 Index fund) 20+ years ago but when I went to sell some of it today, the ticker symbol at Schwab had been changed at some point to VFIAX and the share prices for the two were identical. 

One is "admiral shares" one is not.  Fidelity has something similar for a lot of its major funds.

If you have more than say $10k (made up number, might be $5k, might be $20k) worth your shares become "admiral" and are subject to a lower expense ratio.

End of day is when most fund transactions happen. Funds posting to your account will probably depend on your provider. Mine usually post within 24 hours. 

As mentioned above, mutual funds are valued and exchanged at the end of the day's trading.  ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) trade like stocks during the day, plus you don't pay any capital gains until you sell - unlike mutual funds.  ETFs are a better investment for most people, especially if it's a taxable account.

Hive,

I was sweating bullets this morning worrying that I may have messed something up with my sell order yesterday given the big market sell-off we're seeing today.

I'm pleased to announce that it went through at the market closing price (up 2.02% for the day) which spared me from today's carnage (currently down 2.86%).  Updated later...(currently down 3.93%)

I'm paying my mortgage off this month (I'll be 58 at the end of June) and I'll have enough left over to fund my daughter's first year of tuition and board at UNR.

I'm so excited...I've saved and saved and saved my whole life and this trade represents my first move towards putting it to use.

Debt free and sending my wonderful daughter to a good school.

As I've said many times before "never, never, never sell in fear"...this isn't that, this is transitioning from saving to harnessing. 

In reply to RX Reven' :

There is a certain satisfaction to a paid-for house. Congratulations. 

RX Reven' said:

transitioning from saving to harnessing. 

Congrats!  Looking forward to that point

Congratulations man.  I'm glad that worked out!

Whoo hoo!

Congrats! Debt free and a paid off home. This is something that you need to plan and work towards for years. It seems so far away until you get there. I'm about 10 years or so behind you on the same path. It's good to hear a success story. I cringe every time I hear an ad telling me how much of my money is locked up in my house, and how much cool stuff I could buy if I took cash out. 

I had forgotten about this post but it appears to have been pulled back up 22 hours ago when someone replied and then deleted their post.

Anyway, the S&P 500 closed at 4,088.85 on May 17th when I sold some Index fund shares of it and it's currently trading at 3,650.89 so I'd be 10.7% lower now if I held on.

Again - "Never, never, never sell in fear" which I didn't, I just paid off my mortgage and pulled enough to cover my eldest daughter's first year of college.

Since we're here, any guesses where the S&P 500 will be say one month from today???

Down another 7% is my guess. Q4 is going to be weird. 

I'm guessing that it will continue to drop. 7% would be ok, honestly, I'm thinking it will be more. 
 

But the only thing I'm changing is moving my HSA into cash since I need it. 

No UC for your daughter?

Best part of paying off house, is when you get the title in the mail. I celebrated that evening.  Worst part - prop taxes never go down. 

mr2s2000elise said:

No UC for your daughter?

 

Best part of paying off house, is when you get the title in the mail. I celebrated that evening.  Worst part - prop taxes never go down. 

UCSB was on the short list but she's a biology major which UNR is know for and they gave her in state tuition.

I'm sure being 500 miles away from home rather than 40 played absolutely no role in her decision making 

In reply to RX Reven' :

Very nice. I am MCB from UCB and my wife is Biochem Bruin.  Hoping to keep kids legacy in state, because def can't afford the grad schools me and wife ended up in, for the kiddos - if they choose undergrad there. 

jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:

As mentioned above, mutual funds are valued and exchanged at the end of the day's trading.  ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) trade like stocks during the day, plus you don't pay any capital gains until you sell - unlike mutual funds.  ETFs are a better investment for most people, especially if it's a taxable account.

Can you elaborate on this point?