Mutual Funds Archives

Top 4 Reasons You Might Want to Sell Mutual Funds You Own

I am a buy and hold investor. I do not like to sell many of my investments. I’m decades away from retiring, and I’m a long-term investor, to say the least. It takes a lot for me to sell mutual funds that I own. But, I have been known to transfer the assets from one mutual fund or mutual fund company to another one based on certain criteria. There are times that it is best to just sell your mutual funds and let them go. Things change. Investing philosophies and goals change. Those are the reason to sell mutual funds. Four Reasons When To Sell Mutual Funds Fund Manger Changes Direction You purchase a mutual fund based on its fund … Read more

Do Your Investments Suffer From Mutual Fund Overlap?

by Hank Coleman

How many mutual funds do you invest in? Do you have several funds spread out between Roth IRAs, or do you invest in several mutual funds through your company’s 401k retirement plan? Do you know which stocks those funds invest in? You may suffer from mutual fund overlap. You may be surprised to learn that many of these mutual funds overlap. There can be a real danger in overlap, and you may not as diversified as you think. What Is Mutual Fund Overlap? When a mutual fund does well, investors pile into the investment. Eventually, you wind up with incredibly large mutual funds. For example, the Fidelity Contra Fund (Ticker Symbol – FCNTX) has over $56 billion in total assets … Read more

Reader’s Question: Should You Invest Emergency Fund in Mutual Funds?

by Hank Coleman

Is It Better To Save For Closing Costs Or Pay Down Loan?

This is a Reader Question in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured on a future blog post. If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one of my top ten best personal finance books that everyone should read. Now…on to our reader’s question. This week’s featured question is from Jen who asks, “Should you invest an emergency fund in mutual funds?” Invest Emergency Fund Should you invest emergency … Read more

Where Should A New Investor Put $1,000 To Work In The Market?

by Hank Coleman

I asked 12 of the best personal finance bloggers and money experts the best way to invest money to get an idea of where to start investing. “What is the best way to invest money for a brand new investor? Where should a brand new investor put $1,000 to work in the market?” And, I was not disappointed by their answers. Here are what they said… The Best Way to Invest Money for a New Stock Investor J Money from Budgets Are Sexy – It’s always hard to advise someone the best way to invest money without knowing them at all or their comfortableness with risk, etc, but I know for me (a riskier type of guy) I enjoy investing in stocks … Read more

The Beginner’s Guide – How to Find a Mutual Fund That’s Right for You

by Hank Coleman

Baby Step 4 - Save 15% Of Your Income For Retirement

There are tens of thousands of mutual funds out there for investors to choose from. It is very intimidating for new beginner investors to learn how to find a mutual fund that is right for you and your financial goals. Where do you go to start looking for the right mutual funds to invest in? What are some of the characteristics that you should look for when determining how to find a mutual fund? Below are some of the things that you should consider when learning how to find a mutual fund that best fits your needs. Where To Start Finding Mutual Funds One of my favorite places to start the search for a new mutual fund to invest in … Read more

What Is Dollar Cost Averaging? – Advantages and Drawbacks

by Hank Coleman

Dollar cost averaging is a well established, tested, and extremely reliable approach to accumulate wealth. An investor who wants to put a lump sum of money into the stock market or mutual funds is wise to invest the money over a period of time in equal installments in order to avoid the devastating effect of a drop in the stock or mutual fund’s share price immediately after investing a single, lump-sum investment. What Is Dollar Cost Averaging? Dollar cost average, or DCA, involves buying the same dollar amount of an investment at regular intervals over the course of a set period of time. In doing so, the investor will purchase more shares of an investment when the share price … Read more