Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are a popular method for investors to gain exposure to the capital markets. While there are funds that are available without any sales charge, those that do have these charges...

The debate about whether investing or paying down debt is a better financial decision has been going on for years among personal finance experts. In most cases, if you have debt with high...

Mutual funds are prized for their diversification, but when the markets go down, many mutual funds lose value as well. When a fund is cut in half, investors can be paralyzed into inaction, and may...

Retirement plans, such as self-directed IRAs, and company-sponsored plans, such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s, offer tax-free growth of the investments held within them. Tax-free growth can offer...

A recession occurs when the economy of a particular nation slows down or shrinks--and since the world's economies are becoming increasingly intertwined, these recessions often lead to similar...

Money market funds are a type of mutual fund required by law to invest only in short-term, highly liquid and high-quality investments so that money deposited in the fund is considered to be in a...

Money market funds, a type of mutual fund that is required by law to invest in low-risk securities, can pay both taxable and nontaxable dividends. Nontaxable money market funds are generally...

A mutual fund pools money from a large number of investors and buys stocks from a large number of companies. Investing in mutual funds does not have the same level of high return as investing in...

Creating a strategy for saving and investing for the future can seem like a complicated undertaking. While some people have the inclination and interest to be actively involved in managing...

Fidelity Magellan Fund is a U.S. equity mutual fund offered by Fidelity Investments of Boston. It is recognized as one of the largest mutual funds of all time. Its remarkable performance and...

Although annuities are often considered an investment option, it might be less confusing to refer to them as a tax structure, especially when talking about mutual fund investments. The IRS...

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle that is comprised of stocks or bonds from many different companies. The quick explanation of how it works is that you give your money to the fund manager,...

Active management of a mutual fund means that fund managers buy and sell securities attempting to outperform the overall market return. In contrast, passive management involves buying a portfolio...

Mutual funds that are "loaded" have sales charges associated with them. There is a cost to purchase them. They are typically offered through investment advisers and/or brokerage firms. Load mutual...

Mutual funds are an efficient, low-cost way for individuals to invest in a pool of securities without having to buy individual stocks or bonds. An investment in a mutual fund can be done on a...

A prospectus is a document containing information about a particular mutual fund. Investment companies are required by law to provide them to investors and potential investors.

A certificate of deposit (CD) is a deposit account that offers a higher interest rate than a standard checking account. A mutual fund is an investment account of a portfolio of stocks, managed by...

Mutual funds are pools of securities. In an active mutual fund, fund managers buy and sell securities with the goal of getting a return better than the overall market return. In contrast, an index...

Index mutual funds and ETFs (exchange traded funds) are both designed or track the performance of a market index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 index (S&P 500) or Nasdaq composite index.

Over the years the world of investing has developed several tools to help mutual fund investors measure various risks of mutual funds. Alpha is one such tool that can help determine risk.

The art of investing money takes a great deal of research and skill. The process can be very overwhelming to a beginner. Thankfully, many options exist for smart investors in the form of bonds.

There are so many options to choose from when considering investment opportunities. Many novice and experienced investors opt to have a professional handle their investments through mutual funds...

Some investors choose to put forth a "put option," meaning they'll sell a specific share at a specific price by a certain date. These options must be exercised by the expiration week each month.

Both dividend stocks and mutual funds function as investment vehicles that pay income to investors, but are structured differently. Unlike an individual stock, which represents an ownership share...

Mutual funds, like stocks and bonds, experience a net change at the end of the trading day. This change represents the fund's difference in value as it's traded from one day to the next.

There are a variety of investment vehicles that can be used to make your money work for you. They include stocks, bonds, equity funds, index funds or an equity index fund. An equity index fund is...

Certificates of Deposit (CDs) sometimes require larger investment amounts than mutual funds in order to purchase, have lower rates of return, and require a time commitment between seven days and...

If you have money that you want to invest, consider mutual funds as an alternative to individual stocks, which tend to be more volatile than investing in a mutual fund. But, before you simply...

Investing is meant to add to your wealth, with minimal costs from taxation. Knowing the way a mutual fund is taxed can help you reduce any potential taxes on your investment.

Many variables influence the safety of any financial investment, including mutual funds. But realizing that with great returns comes great risk is the first step in whether a mutual fund is a safe...

Bond yields could be higher if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates (short-term ones), according Tobias Levkovich, the Chief Equity Strategists with Citigroup Global Markets, in Smart Money.com.

Mutual funds can be purchased, traded or sold. But the term "trading" in mutual fund language pertains to all three activities, since the fund is being traded from a company to a buyer, a buyer to...

Many young people have no image of the future; some cannot conceive there is anything beyond today. I lived with that philosophy until the day both knees were injured and I couldn't work. No...

Mutual funds offer inexperienced and experienced investors---who may not have a lot of money to invest---the ability to invest in more than just one investment tool without having to monitor or...

Mutual fund share classes are different ways you can pay the sales charge (commission) associated with the fund. Depending on the length of time you intend to own the mutual fund, the total...

Fidelity Investments' gold fund is called Fidelity Select Gold Portfolio (stock symbol FSAGX). This mutual fund invests in companies that are involved in the mining, exploration, processing or...

Mutual funds are pools of capital formed by the collective investments of multiple individuals. All mutual funds seek to make money for their shareholders but do so in different ways. Income funds...

Annuities and mutual funds often work in similar ways and can provide similar benefits. However, because of their similarities, there are many instances where the two can be confused.

Strategic income mutual funds are designed to provide investors with exposure to a diverse range of income-producing assets. The balancing of different assets may provide higher income and more...

A mutual fund is a large portfolio of securities created with funds invested by a number of individuals. Most mutual funds issue shares as people invest and redeem the shares when investments are...

If you're going to invest in mutual funds, you should sign up with a reputable broker. Founded in 1875, Prudential is a well known financial institution. While you can always access Prudential...

Mutual fund companies receive contributions from a large pool of investors and invest those funds in an array of vehicles, depending on the stated objectives of the fund. As with any business,...

Mutual funds, index funds, and ETFs are great ways to maximize diversification in your portfolio while mitigating risk. These are three investment vehicles it pays to learn -- and you can...

If you are looking for an investment vehicle with less risk than individual securities, but with enough market exposure to give you the potential for market beating gains, mutual funds might be...