Investing 101: Mutual Funds

With so many ways to invest, securing your financial future can seem overwhelming. The good news is that there are many terrific options to help you reach your goals. Let’s start with a building block of many investment portfolios: the mutual fund.

Mutual funds have been around for almost 100 years—and with good reason. When you buy a share in a mutual fund, you’re actually investing in a collection of securities—such as stocks and/or bonds—without having to purchase each security individually. These funds are managed by professional money managers and vary in their investment objectives, styles, and fees, giving you a wide range of choices based on your goals, risk tolerance, and personal investing philosophy.

Some mutual funds are designed to track an index, like the S&P 500, or follow a business sector, like tech, energy, or health care. They can also focus on company size, international or domestic companies, or target a specific date when you’d like to reach a financial goal. Truly, there is a mutual fund for every investor.

Perhaps most importantly, mutual funds provide a convenient way to diversify your financial portfolio.   
You’ve heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and that’s exactly the approach mutual funds take. Ensuring a portfolio is spread across various asset types, market sectors, and risk profiles is popularly regarded as a good way to mitigate the ups and downs that come with financial markets.

Today, politicians and regulators continue to dream up new policies that would impact investments like mutual funds—some for better, some for worse. Investors like you now face the risk of policymakers limiting your choice and number of investment options by changing how your mutual funds operate day to day.

Investors deserve a way to have their voices heard.

Secure Financial Future exists to give you that voice and help lead the charge to protect your investments from harmful policies or reckless regulations, and support those that can ease the road towards your financial goals.

Click here to join our action network as we seek to empower investors in their quest for a Secure Financial Future.