| Investing in the stock market can be both very | | | | by the fund manager for you. Also, investing in |
| lucrative and risky. If you know what you're doing, or | | | | stocks can have a lot of costly fees. If you opt for |
| you are very lucky, you can make a lot of money. | | | | no-load mutual funds, you don't have to pay any |
| The historical average return is about 13% which is | | | | fees. You don't have to worry about trading fees |
| higher than a lot of other available investments such | | | | that can be very steep when buying and selling |
| as bonds. Then there are mutual funds. A mutual | | | | stocks. |
| fund is basically a collection of stocks and/or bonds. | | | | Finally, mutual funds are easy investments. If you |
| If a mutual fund is made up of stocks, why not just | | | | want to invest in stocks you have to research |
| buy stocks? | | | | stocks by reading financial statements, reviewing |
| First of all, not all mutual funds are made up entirely | | | | history, and understanding what you are doing. This |
| of stocks. Some funds include bonds, real estate, | | | | takes a lot of time and effort that you can only get |
| currency, commodities, and other investments. That | | | | past if you pay a financial advisor or stock broker a |
| alone is one great reason to invest in mutual funds | | | | pretty penny to do this for you. With mutual funds, |
| instead of stocks; you get instant diversification. If | | | | you can invest in a no-load fund that has no fees and |
| you want to invest $1,000, there are only so many | | | | get professional stock picks. Now understand that |
| different companies' stock you can buy. With mutual | | | | nobody can successful predict the stock market |
| funds, your money is pooled with other people's | | | | 100% every time, but a financial professional can at |
| money so that you are able to get a small bit of | | | | least make possibly better picks than you. |
| hundreds of investments that will greatly reduce the | | | | If you've finally realized that you need to be investing |
| risk of your investments. | | | | your money, and you don't know how to invest or |
| That brings us to our next point, affordability. The | | | | what to invest in, start with mutual funds. Watch |
| average person probably can't afford the $20,000 up | | | | your money grow, and if you ever feel confident |
| front investment needed to have a well diversified | | | | enough you can buy your own stock picks. Until then, |
| portfolio. With a mutual fund, you don't have to | | | | don't waste precious time, start investing right away! |
| worry about diversification because it's already done | | | | |