Research Mutual Funds Before You Invest
If I am starting with a really low amount like 1000.00, what is beneficial? Or is it even worth it?
As above, less than five years a money market is great. Over five years then go with a good mutual fund with a long track record (10 years or more).
powered by Yahoo Answers
I am thinking about using State Farm Bank or Wells Fargo Bank. Anyone with knowledge about investing money could you please look at the StateFarmBank.com website and the WellsFargoBank.com web site and help me figure out which is best? Money Markets, CD's Mutual Funds or whatever?? Also I don't want to "risk" my money so which is the best way to go? Also what other companies do you recommend? Someone please help me!
Hello Gloria,
I think you are headed in the right direction if you are ultra sensitive to risk. Both instruments you referenced are very conservative. With a CD you may obtain a little more income than from a MMKT. The CD requires that you lock-up your money for a specified time period in exchange for a certain rate. With a money markets you generally have a bit more flexibility when it comes to using your money but your return may be lower than the CD. As for risk, they are similar assuming they are both guaranteed by the Federal Government. CDs generally carry a bit more risk because the returns that are guaranteed may not stay abreast of changes in market interest rates. So, if you decide on a CD, make sure you understand the longer you invest your money the greater the risk of losing money as a result of increasing interest rates.
Hope this helps!
Mason
powered by Yahoo Answers
Find out how Short Term US Treasury Bills Work. Dr Martin D Weiss, PHD and Mike Larson walk you through some of the questions investors have regarding Treasury Bills and how to invest in them.
Duration : 8 min 28 sec
money market mutuals funds are invested in a variety of short term corporate & government notes. they fund takes a small percentage for managing the money. some money market funds are US Treasury only funds and invest in government obligations only. some invest only in municipal bonds to gain the tax free status.
the risk is that some of the investments default and the share price is not held at a constant $1.00.. you would lose money in that case. Most major fund companies would never let that happen to a money market fund as it would kill off most of their business. they have and would add the extra cash to keep the net asset value at $1.00.
moral of the story, buy money market funds from the best companies, vanguard.com, fidelity.com, troweprice.com, schwab.com ,etc.
powered by Yahoo Answers
Many Americans and people in countries where ready credit is available find themselves in greater debt then ever before and this makes you wonder whether you are working for yourself or for your creditors. This ends up being a problem of financial spending & control and if you take a short moment to reconsider your own financial health, you might be able to correct your financial situation today.
You will find that many people today are living from paycheck to paycheck and running from payday loan provider to another. This article suggests three simple & quick ways to improve your personal finances.
Firstly, you might want to draw up a Cash flow statement for yourself. This is quite simple to do actually. Just take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line in the middle and consider how much money you are earning each month and list all the sources on the left and total it up at the bottom. Next on the right column figure out how much money you are spending each month, including how much interest and debt you need to repay. Take your credit card statements out and use it to work through this section. Once you figure this out, then you will be better able to manage your own finances or at least have a better idea about your spending habits.
Secondly, budget to save before you spend. This idea is taken from many millionaires who recommend that you use auto-transfer each month a sum of your money and either save it or invest it into some thing like real estate. My personal favourite idea is to take a sum of money each month and use it to purchase my favourite Exchange Traded Fund which works like a mutual fund only that it just buys up the entire index of stocks. This way you do not need to work about over performing or underperforming the market and the management fees for these funds are really low.
Finally, now that you know how much money you have left to spend each month, budget how much you want to spend each month. As terrible as it may seem, try to pay for things with cash and with a debt card so that you are kept in touch with how much you are actually spending. Its so easy to flash a credit card and then lose sense of reality and you only get hit with it at the end of the month when the bill arrives. So try to remind yourself constantly about the need to avoid spending exuberance.
In conclusion, doing a simple cash flow statement ever so often helps to keep yourself reminded of how your spending and investing patterns are each month. Budgeting to save before you spend will ensure that you will retire quite well off and budgeting before you spend will help you figure out how you want to use your available funds each month. Remember that the more credit you use on consumer products which drop in value really fast, the most the credit card companies are going to make from you and the less you will have to spend in the longer term. Take control of your finances today and you will find your life starting to look brighter and happier.
Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)
I have some stock mutual funds, and some money in a money market fund. I am invested 50% mutual funds 50% money market funds. My Question is, is this a good time to invest about 40% of my money market funds into a bond mutual fund factoring in the overall status of the stock market at this time?
If so, what percentage should be allocated to short term bonds, intermediate term bonds, and long term bonds. Thank you for your help. [-: curlycuejoyce ;-]
It is never a good time to invest in a bond fund.
Just buy individual bonds/CDs of varying maturities. You won't have to give up part of the yield to management fees and your principal is guaranteed (or at least fairly secure) if you hold to maturity.
If you feel you cannot predict interest rates – you have plenty of company, most "professionals" can't either. Simply do a ladder: a series of bonds maturing every 6 months and every year.
powered by Yahoo Answers
