One of the reasons the search engines may be bogged down in Mutual Fund search traffic is that no one can actually find the product that they advertise about themselves.

The UNfounded Hype surrounding Mutual Funds is fantastic, millions and millions of Google searches per month indicate how many people consider this a simple way to quickly diversify, hedge and profit. But is it true? Let’s take a look.

It is widely accepted that “Mutual Funds are a simple way to diversify your assets.” -Don’t kid yourself, most of them are sector driven, in other words, instead of owning some stock in a coal company you own shares in a company that owns stock in ten coal companies. This is hardly diversified.

But then, investing in a massive Mutual fund that owns other smaller ones is the answer, right? No. You are still not diversified. Even the massive ones are not usually international, they are confined to one market or Country. If the market tanks or the Country’s currency tanks, you will feel very inadequately diversified. (more…)

Experienced mutual fund salesmen concentrate their sales pitch on doctors, dentists, pilots, other professionals and other self-employed. These are the traditional soft touches for a stock investment. (For what ever reason, doctors always seem to get into the worst business deals and I might add – pilots as well.). Years ago one of the most appealing angles of the professional-directed mutual fund story was the extra advantage of getting into one of the group insurance policies the funds offer.

This was especially intriguing to the individual who has thus far failed to benefit from this excellent form of cheap insurance. What you must watch out for, however, is this: Not all “group insurance” is alike. Always insist on a sample policy. Read it and see what you’re getting. Always become educated on any investment. (more…)

The Conservative party believe that poorer families are not benefiting from the child trust fund. The have said the majority of children who will benefit from the Labour introduced scheme will be those from wealthier families. This is based on statistics stating that 82% of parents who live in the richest ten areas of the UK have set up CTF accounts for their children, but fewer than 70% of those residing in the poorest ten areas have.

What are the reasons for this? It theory it is they who should be more keen to take advantage of the scheme as they could do with more government assistance. The Tories claim that many are unaware of the existence of the scheme, therefore suggesting that the government has done a poor job of publicizing it and educating people to its benefits. (more…)

What is an exchange-traded fund (ETF)?

An ETF Investment is an exchange-traded fund, a type of investment vehicle traded on stock exchanges. ETF stocks are traded like single shares, with the prices moving throughout the day.

An ETF typically holds assets such as stocks (typically a mixture of investments in unit trusts and investment trusts) or bonds. Many ETFs in fact track an overall index, such as the S&P 500 or MSCI EAFE. An ETF’s overall value is usually around the same price as the net value of the asset value of its underlying assets; if it is tracking an overall index, its value typically moves in line with changes in that index. Only “authorized participants” (typically large investors) are actually permitted to deal directly with the ETF in terms of buying or selling shares from or to the fund manager. Such transactions usually involve the purchase or sale of “creation units” (i.e. groups of tens of thousands of ETF shares. Individual investors then go through these “authorised participants” to buy ETF stocks and to formulate their ETF trading strategies. (more…)

Regardless of if you are about to retire, or have just launched your career, it’s essential that you spend some time thinking about how you’re going to fund your retirement. To do this, there are two key questions you need to ask yourself: How much money am I going to have when I retire, and how would I like to receive that money?

The most common way to determine how much money you’ll have is to use a pension calculator. Based on information you input about such things as your current salary, your savings and how long you have left until you retire, such a tool will be able to calculate how much money you can expect to receive when you do finally call time on your working life. Not only that, but it’s also a great tool for allowing you to see if you need to adjust the amount you’re saving towards your pension now, in order to have an adequate sum for your retirement. (more…)

For parents or grandparents, there are few things in life more important than funding for a loved one’s college education.

Throughout the years, folks have selected mutual funds as the primary vehicle when saving for college costs. Although there are many variations of mutual fund based plans-from the traditional brokerage account to the newer 529 plans; there is even a Education IRA that is popular as well. The latter plans were developed so that a person could save for college, using after tax money and based upon the underlying mutual funds, the person could enjoy tax-deferred savings (more…)

Regardless of if you are about to retire, or have just launched your career, it’s essential that you spend some time thinking about how you’re going to fund your retirement. To do this, there are two key questions you need to ask yourself: How much money am I going to have when I retire, and how would I like to receive that money?

The most common way to determine how much money you’ll have is to use a pension calculator. Based on information you input about such things as your current salary, your savings and how long you have left until you retire, such a tool will be able to calculate how much money you can expect to receive when you do finally call time on your working life. Not only that, but it’s also a great tool for allowing you to see if you need to adjust the amount you’re saving towards your pension now, in order to have an adequate sum for your retirement. (more…)

One of the most important and sometimes overlooked strategies to maximize giving at your benefit auction is to include a “Fund-A-Need” program. Charities around the world have been utilizing this method to energize their auctions and inspire their guests, increasing their revenues dramatically. This program should address a specific need of your organization and directly involve the donors in your cause, making them feel a greater commitment to your organization. If done correctly, you will never regret it.

So why should you utilize a “Fund A Need” program? Shouldn’t the auction be sufficient to draw in the donations that will be available? One of the reasons is that there will always be “losing” bidders at your auction. These guests came and attempted to give their money to your organization but the potential donation is still in their pocket. Occasionally, there will also be guests who are not fond of the competition of an auction or are not interested in the items for sale. They are also there to give, but need another means to do it. The direct appeal for a specific need allows every type of giver to become involved. It does not limit participation to those at certain levels of giving. Surprisingly, more money is often raised during the “Fund-A-Need” program than throughout the auction itself. Just as important, it inspires the guests at your event and makes them more aware of your organization’s needs.

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A tax free money market fund is a great way to balance your portfolio especially if it is equity heavy. In this current economic scenario, there is a lot of uncertainty. Therefore, it makes sense to park some money in debt funds like government securities and money market funds.

A money market fund is usually a mutual fund which invests its assets in short term debt instruments like cash or cash equivalent securities. These funds are usually used as short term investments until the time you have found a suitable option to invest your money. This is particularly good option in recent times when the investors are waiting for the markets to bounce back. Once the Bull Run starts, investors can take out this money from money market funds and invest them in equity funds or other high yielding avenues.

There are various types of such instruments like Certificate of deposits, commercial paper, U.S. Treasuries, repurchase agreement etc. These funds come in two varieties which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As the name suggests, the taxable funds are taxed during maturity while the tax free money market funds are exempted from tax.

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