I've been looking at a couple of growth
funds, as well as some no-load funds to get started. Since I don't have
a lot of capital to invest at the beginning here, I figured that these
types of funds would be my best bet. They'll allow me to diversify my
portfolio to an extent that wouldn't be possible if I simply bought
stocks on my own, and this will of course protect me from short-term
market fluctuations. By using mutual fund ratings to identify good
investment opportunities, I'm giving myself an excellent head start.
Mutual fund reviews can come from a
variety of sources, including financial journals, investment magazines,
and the Internet. Since I don't have much experience with the stock
market, I've been sticking to trusted names for my information, such as
The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Kiplinger's Personal Finance,
and Money. All of these publications regularly feature comprehensive
mutual fund ratings, and I can even access recent archives by visiting
their respective websites.
I've also found a number of independent
websites that publish their own ratings, but I'm a lot more wary of
following any advice from these places. After all, sometimes it's hard
to tell if a particular site is part of a class project for a
19-year-old college student or if it's actually run by people who know
what they're doing. The last thing I need is to follow terrible advice
and lose all my money!
I know that fund ratings are only the
beginning, and even funds that score the highest in these reviews carry
a certain amount of risk. But by reading as much as I can about these
investments before putting my money in, I'll be in a better position to
assess the risk vs. reward ratio and will be able to make smarter
decisions that will hopefully pay off in the form of a nice, big
retirement account that will sustain me through my golden years.
If you're in the same boat and want to
start planning for a secure future, I recommend that you review fund
ratings from trusted sources before you invest your hard-earned dollars.
The extra research will be worth it!
