What are some of the best mutual funds to invest in?
78777
I've been quite successful with the Franklin Templeton family of funds. There are lots of\ndifferent funds to choose based on your risk tolerance.
388299
Mutual funds are a group of investors, that usually don't have enough money at one time, pooling there money together to maximize their buying power and  with more money they buy many different stocks in many different companies so that they limit their risk of loss by not investing in one company( or putting your eggs in one basket) Do to the fact that they pool their money the mutual fund can then afford a professional fund manager to pick which stocks, bonds, or money markets to invest in.  Also there are many types of funds, some balanced meaning they invest in all three, stocks, bonds, and money markets, simultaneously and some invest all in stocks, or bonds, or money markets individually. Anyway that is another big discussion. I hope that this helps you out.\n\nRemember mutual funds will never have the big returns of individual stocks but there wont be the losses either.\n\nAverage gains of 8% to 12% over the life of the fund should not be too hard to get.
1004282
Anytime is a good time to invest in mutual funds, if you take the SIP route.A SIP allos you to benefit from Rupee cost averaging, which means you buy more units when the markets are down & similarly you buy less units when the markets are over-heated.\n\nChoose a good fund based on your risk profile.\nVisit www.valueresearchonline.com to find out the top mutual funds in all categories.\n\nYour fund should be a 4 or a 5 ranker.\n\nAll the best.
722674
Your best bet is a no load mutual fund. But you need to be a little selective. I have run a yahoo screen of candidate mutual funds for you to consider. \n\nThe best results come with having a quarterly, some say monthly, investment plan--say add $100 to $200 quarterly. That way you average out the market swings buying less stock when the market is up and more when the market is down. \n\nNote: mutual funds have a year end distribution of realized gains. It is best to purchase right after the distribution because the price reflects the amount distributed.
444126
If it will be 30 years until you use the money, you ought to have very high risk investments.\n\nI'm a big believer in index funds.  A mix of index funds beats 3/4 of managed mutual funds.  I think it is really advisable to read up on the "couch potato portfolio" and the "coffee house portfolio."  Scott Burns discusses these at his web site (free registration).  You can search Google.  They are simple mixes of index funds that only require rebalancing once a year.\n\nRead "Bogle on Mutual Funds."  It shows why index fund investing is the way to go.\n\nI have a couple articles on the couch potato and coffee house portfolios, including recommended funds.  If you'll e-mail me, I'll send them to you.  My address: 5azssqf02@sneakemail.com
589242
Your can invest in:\n\n- Stock market: get in touch with a stockbroker; but this is not a sure bet\n\n- Savings: low risk low return; if you want to invest look out for compound interest savings.\n\n- mutual fund managers: not a sure bet but at least the fund managers will be able to diversify your investment. Diificult to spread your option in stock market if you are low in initial fund so mutual fund is one option. Check out this company that offers fixed investment return as an example of what fund managers can offer: http://www.swisscash.biz/web/asc_company.aspx
125738
I don't know of any ETFs. I looked through at some newspaper stocks to see which mutual fund held them, and the only fund that I saw was Fidelity Select Multimedia.\n\nThey list Gannett, EW Scripps, New Corp, and Washington Post among their top 20 holdings, however they also have internet holdings as well. The November 2005 portfolio (see link below) shows that over 17% of the fund was invested in Yahoo! and Google.\n\nNot sure what your investment goals are, but I would not invest in this fund.
786753
A great stock for beginners, and for 75 + % of all investors, is:VFINX. Okay, it's not really one single stock, but rather a collection of stocks; an Index Fund. This index fund buys all the stocks in the SP 500 according to their individual weightings. This is a great first investment because the investor gets exposure to all stocks in the SP 500 in one purchase. The other perk to owning index funds is that the fees associated with them are extremely low compared to mutual funds. This is because mutual fund managers select any stocks they want, as opposed to the strict rules of index funds, which, in the case, is concentrated in the SP 500. This sounds like a disadvantage; however, the numbers don't lie - mutual funds underpreform the SP 500 by 1-1.5 % over time. An index is a better choice than a single stock because your money does not ride on the prospects of one single company. In fact, this investment in VFINX will probably rise between 8-12 % annually for the next ten plus years. I recommend an index fund to most investors, not just beginners, because again, historically, index funds have returned a higher annual rate, AFTER EXPENSES, than mutual funds. In fact, VFINX has beaten 75 % of the other funds available, BEFORE EXPENSES, during the last 10 years. After expenses, VFINX has beaten over 90 % of all funds. Finally, you don't have to "actively manage" this purchase (aka look at the stock market everyday - although you could!) because, again, you own a small percentage of 500 of the best companies in the US. All this adds up to a relitively safe, solid long-term investment.
13235
If you doing research on funds then: \nwww.morningstar.com\n\nIf you investing in funds then it's good to open an account with large fund family such as:\nwww.fidelity.com\nwww.vanguard.com\nwww.troweprice.com
455951
Here are some websites that will give you a knowledge of how to invest in mutual funds.
801461
BUY SOME OF THE TOP PERFORMING FUNDS. THEY ARE LESS RISKY THAN STOCKS.
1087020
I personally believe in mutual funds as I have no idea about stock markets. To make good money, invest systematically in well managed diversified equity growth funds. Usually set target for your retirement or kids college tution. I bumped into this blog directly related to India. http://www.dalalstreet.biz/2006/06/sip-art-of-investing-in.html\n\nMaybe this will help.
820673
Don't buy mutual funds for the long run. They're not good investments. The problem is the fees that are involved. A mutual fund is a pool of money from a number of investors which is then invested and managed by a fund manager and usually his/her employees. This inherently means you get lower returns than if you bought stocks.\n\nThe reason is, the fund manager and employees all have to get paid, which cuts into your earnings. This makes them less attractive, so they often pay advisers to recommend them. This further cuts into your earnings. As a result, stocks are a much smarter option. The IRA isn't a bad idea, and there are different kinds of IRAs you can invest in.
158989
Most of the mutual funds from big names firms are overpriced and underperform. Check out the performance and fees from the fund you bought with its peers. You could use the fund comparison tool at Vanguard.com or one of many discount brokers. I bet you find that Smith Barney takes a big chunk of your investment as fees and commissions and underperforms as well.\n\nread bobbrinker.com website for more unbiased views on investing and no load mutual funds. Also Growth Fund Research Inc. has an incredible recent track record in mutual fund advisory. NO LOADS>
952247
Fidelity was once a legend.  The firm still has a good reputation.  For mutual fund advice you could lok at Morningstar which ranks these funds.  They publish an annual report which is available for $30 or so which compares mutual fund performance by year, location, fund strategy etc.\n\nI wouldn't be surprised if there were mutual funds which tracked Vanguard investments closely but required a much smaller deposit.
175373
Morningstar is pretty good, sign up is free and you can compare lots of fund aspects. Dig deeper at yahoo finance for particular funds.
782690
Mutual funds are appropriate for some and the wrong investment for a growing number of people.\n\nFor me, I would NOT invest in mutual funds if it weren't for having a 401K. \n\nOverall, Mutual funds are not good (once you're educated in investing) and many people should not invest in mutual funds unless you have to (like if it were a requirement in a 401K).\n\nHere's why.\n\nFirst of all, mutual funds exist to take average person's money.\n\nSecond, mutual funds seem to be "happy" just to do better than the S&P index, since that's often the gauge. A monkey, yes monkey, can usually outpick most mutual funds. Over 60% of the mutual funds out there can't even outperform the market (CNBC just reported the current # was 72%). That's VERY SAD!\n\nThird, mutual funds have embedded management fees in their costs. Most of these mgmt fees are 0.5% to 2% annually.\n\nFourth, most mutual funds exist not to earn you a lot of money, but are more interested in NOT "losing" you lots of money. That way you stay with them and they continue to collect their fees.\n\nFifth, mutual funds are not as liquid as one might think. If you're in mutual funds and a Bush talks in the morning and you call your broker to sell because the market is now tanking, the broker will gladly take your order, but the order will not be executed until the day is over and the negative impact is already priced into the fund.\n\nSixth, many mutual funds charge extra "fees" if you buy/sell their fund within a certain amount of time, meaning you must keep your money in the fund 90 days to 2 yrs before you're free from the fees (read the fine print on trying to get a withdrawal). These fees can be up to 3% or so of your money as well.\n\nSeventh, mutual funds have to be in the market. So if the market is crashing or going down like it has between May and now, then the funds still have to be in the market and taking those losses too. With some practice, you can time your monies to avoid some of those losses (it'll take practice).\n\nConvinced yet? Need more? \n\nEighth, mutual funds have to be pretty diversified and so if there are hot and cold sectors, they are probably in both the hot sectors and cold sectors. However, as an investor, you can buy into just the sectors you want, like metals, or housing, or energy, etc. or right now, Brokers/Dealers, Retail, and insurance!\n\nNinth, mutual funds are so big, they can only invest in certain companies. A small mutual fund with $10 billion in assets. 1% of that money is $100 million. How many companies are this big where $100 million investment isn't the whole company? Do you want to limit yourself to just those larger companies like Times Warner, Microsoft, home depot, cisco, ebay which have been sideways for years? I think not.\n\nA better way would be to buy ETFs (exchange traded funds) or holders. These trade like stocks, so are very liquid, and do not have the high fees like the mutual funds. Further, you can buy/sell them as you wish. They represent sectors or indexes, so buying them gives you the same diversification as the sector/industry/index, but with much less overhead!\n\nSee Amex.com (american stock exchange) or ishares.com, holders.com for more info. \n\n\nYou need to invest for yourself. If you can't, then sure, use mutual funds. But be aware of the shortcomings (and as you can see, there are many). \n\nLet me know if you have further questions. \n\nBest of luck!