MUTUAL FUNDS The Definition A mutual fund is nothing more than a collection of stocks and/or bonds. You can think of a mutual fund as a company that brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities. Each investor owns shares, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund.
You can make money from a mutual fund in three ways: 1) Income is earned from dividends on stocks and interest on bonds.
1. A fund pays out nearly all of the income it receives over the year to fund owners in the form of a distribution.
2) If the fund sells securities that have increased in price, the fund has a capital gain. Most funds also pass on these gains to investors in a distribution.
3) If fund holdings increase in price but are not sold by the fund manager, the fund's shares increase in price. You can then sell your mutual fund shares for a profit.
Funds will also usually give you a choice either to receive a check for distributions or to reinvest the earnings and get more shares.
Advantages of Mutual Funds: • Professional Management - The primary advantage of funds (at least theoretically) is the professional management of your money. Investors purchase funds because they do not have the time or the expertise to manage their own portfolios. A mutual fund is a relatively inexpensive way for a small investor to get a full-time manager to make and monitor investments.
• Diversification - By owning shares in a mutual fund instead of owning individual stocks or bonds, your risk is spread out. The idea behind diversification is to invest in a large number of assets so that a loss in any particular investment is minimized by gains in others. In other words, the more stocks and bonds you own, the less any one of them can hurt you (think about Enron). Large mutual funds typically own hundreds of different stocks in many different industries. It wouldn't be possible for an investor to build this kind of a portfolio with a small amount of money.
• Economies of Scale - Because a mutual fund buys and sells large amounts of securities at a time, its transaction costs are lower than what an individual would pay for securities transactions.
• Liquidity - Just like an individual stock, a mutual fund allows you to request that your shares be converted into cash at any time. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
• Simplicity - Buying a mutual fund is easy! Pretty well any bank has its own line of mutual funds, and the minimum investment is small. Most companies also have automatic purchase plans whereby as little as $100 can be invested on a monthly basis.
Disadvantages of Mutual Funds: • Professional Management - Did you notice how we qualified the advantage of professional management with the word "theoretically"? -
Many investors debate whether or not the so-called professionals are any better than you or I at picking stocks. Management is by no means infallible, and, even if the fund loses money, the manager still takes his/her cut. We'll talk about this in detail in a later section.
• Costs - Mutual funds don't exist solely to make your life easier - all funds are in it for a profit. The mutual fund industry is masterful at burying costs under layers of jargon. These costs are so complicated that in this tutorial we have devoted an entire section to the subject. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
• Dilution - It's possible to have too much diversification. Because funds have small holdings in so many different companies, high returns from a few investments often don't make much difference on the overall return.
Dilution is also the result of a successful fund getting too big. When money pours into funds that have had strong success, the manager often has trouble finding a good investment for all the new money.
• Taxes - When making decisions about your money, fund managers don't consider your personal tax situation. For example, when a fund manager sells a security, a capital-gains tax is triggered, which affects how profitable the individual is from the sale. It might have been more advantageous for the individual to defer the capital gains liability. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FUNDS No matter what type of investor you are, there is bound to be a mutual fund that fits your style. According to the last count there are more than 10,000 mutual funds in North America! That means there are more mutual funds than stocks. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
It's important to understand that each mutual fund has different risks and rewards. In general, the higher the potential return, the higher the risk of loss. Although some funds are less risky than others, all funds have some level of risk - it's never possible to diversify away all risk. This is a fact for all investments.
Each fund has a predetermined investment objective that tailors the fund's assets, regions of investments and investment strategies. At the fundamental level, there are three varieties of mutual funds: 1) Equity funds (stocks) 2) Fixed-income funds (bonds) 3) Money market funds
All mutual funds are variations of these three asset classes. For example, #1. while equity funds that invest in fast-growing companies are known as growth funds, #2. Equity funds that invest only in companies of the same sector or region are known as specialty funds. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
Let's go over the many different flavors of funds. We'll start with the safest and then work through to the more risky. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - Money Market Funds The money market consists of short-term debt instruments, mostly Treasury bills. This is a safe place to park your money. You won't get great returns, but you won't have to worry about losing your principal. A typical return is twice the amount you would earn in a regular checking/savings account and a little less than the average certificate of deposit (CD). Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - Bond/Income Funds Income funds are named appropriately: their purpose is to provide current income on a steady basis. When referring to mutual funds, the terms "fixed-income," "bond," and "income" are synonymous.
These terms denote funds that invest primarily in government and corporate debt. While fund holdings may appreciate in value, the primary objective of these funds is to provide a steady cashflow to investors. As such, the audience for these funds consists of conservative investors and retirees.
Bond funds are likely to pay higher returns than certificates of deposit and money market investments, but bond funds aren't without risk. Because there are many different types of bonds, bond funds can vary dramatically depending on where they invest. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
For example, a fund specializing in high-yield junk bonds is much more risky than a fund that invests in government securities. Furthermore, nearly all bond funds are subject to interest rate risk, which means that if rates go up the value of the fund goes down. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - Balanced Funds The objective of these funds is to provide a balanced mixture of safety, income and capital appreciation. The strategy of balanced funds is to invest in a combination of fixed income and equities.
A typical balanced fund might have a weighting of 60% equity and 40% fixed income. The weighting might also be restricted to a specified maximum or minimum for each asset class.
A similar type of fund is known as an asset allocation fund. Objectives are similar to those of a balanced fund, but these kinds of funds typically do not have to hold a specified percentage of any asset class. The portfolio manager is therefore given freedom to switch the ratio of asset classes as the economy moves through the business cycle. Equity Funds Funds that invest in stocks represent the largest category of mutual funds. Generally, the investment objective of this class of funds is long-term capital growth with some income. There are, however, many different types of equity funds because there are many different types of equities. A great way to understand the universe of equity funds is to use a style box, an example of which is below.
INVESTING / METHOD AND TECHNIQUES TO INVEST IN TODAY'S MARKET FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
STOCK MARKET: A WAY TO INVEST AND MULTIPLY YOUR MONEY. THE MARKET HAS THOUSANDS OF COMPANIES TO BUY STOCKS, Mutual Funds, Bond Funds, Annuity. The market in which shares are issued and traded either through exchanges or over-the-counter markets.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT SECRETS REVEALED, REAL ESTATE CAN HELP YOU GET RICHER THE QUICKEST, EASIEST WAY POSSIBLE. HOW TO GET PRE-QUALIFY FOR A HOME LOAN? HOW DOES OWNER FINANCING REALLY WORKS
FORTUNE, CREATION AND INTRODUCTION: When you invest in stock, you buy ownership shares in a company. Before You Invest; Before undertaking any investment program, it is critical that you assess your current situation and form goals. Evaluating a Stock, Creating an Emergency Fund
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The whole social networking phenomenon has millions of Americans sharing their photos, favorite songs and details about their class reunions on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Tagged and dozens of similar sites. But there are a handful of personal details that you should never say if you don't want criminals — cyber or otherwise — to rob you blind. ------------------------------KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
You can certainly enjoy networking and sharing photos, but you should know that sharing some information puts you at risk. What should you never say or reveal on any social networking site?
7. Your Birth Date and Place Sure, you can say what day you were born, but if you provide the year and where you were born too, you've just given identity thieves a key to stealing your financial life, said Givens. A study done by Carnegie Mellon showed that a date and place of birth could be used to predict most — and sometimes all — of the numbers in your Social Security number
8. Home Address Do I have to elaborate? A study recently released by the Ponemon Institute found that users of Social Media sites were at greater risk of physical and identity theft because of the information they were sharing. Some 40% listed their home address on the sites; 65% didn't even attempt to block out strangers with privacy settings. And 60% said they weren't confident that their "friends" were really just people they know.
9. Confessionals You may hate your job; lie on your taxes; or be a recreational user of illicit drugs, but this is no place to confess. Employers commonly peruse social networking sites to determine who to hire — and, sometimes, who to fire. Need proof? You better not doing it...
10. Password Clues If you've got online accounts, you've probably answered a dozen different security questions, telling your bank or brokerage firm your Mom's maiden name; the church you were married in; or the name of your favorite song. Got that same stuff on the information page of your Facebook profile? You're giving crooks an easy way to guess your passwords.
11. Risky Behaviors You take your classic Camaro out for street racing, soar above the hills in a hang glider, or smoke like a chimney? Insurers are increasingly turning to the web to figure out whether their applicants and customers are putting their lives or property at risk, So far, there's no efficient way to collect the data, so cancellations and rate hikes are rare. But the technology is fast.
12. Vacation Plans
There may be a better way to say "Rob me, please" than posting something along the lines of: "Count-down to Maui! Two days and Ritz Carlton, here we come!" on Twitter. But it's hard to think of one. Post the photos on Facebook when you return, if you like. But don't invite criminals in by telling them specifically when you'll be gone. KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
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Insurance Products: How to make profits with the insurance companies? Learn More... -AMERICAN DOLLAR. What are the letters, numbers, and symbols, the latin words, The pyramid mean? FIND-OUT...
''Reasons to Buy a Mutual Fund!!-- Why You Should Buy a Mutual Fund?
1. Mutual Funds Offer Diversification The beauty of a mutual fund is that you can buy a mutual fund and obtain instant access to a hundreds of individual stocks or bonds. Otherwise, in order to diversify your portfolio, you might have to buy individual securities, which exposes you to more potential volatility. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - --------------------
2. Mutual Funds are Professionally Managed Many investors don’t have the resources or the time to buy individual stocks. Investing in individual securities, such as stocks, not only takes resources, but a considerable amount of time. By contrast, mutual fund managers and analysts wake up each morning dedicating their professional lives to researching and analyzing current and potential holdings for their mutual fund. -----------------------
3. Mutual Funds Come in Many Varieties A mutual fund comes in many types and styles. There are stock funds, bond funds, sector funds, target-date mutual funds, money market mutual funds and balanced funds. Mutual funds allow you to invest in the market whether you believe in active portfolio management (actively managed funds) or you prefer to buy a segment of the market with no interference from a manager (passive funds and index mutual funds). The availability of different types of mutual funds allows you to build a diversified portfolio at low cost and without much difficulty.
'' 'INVESTMENT & FINANCE: METHODS, TECHNIQUES, AND STRATEGIES. WHERE, WHEN, HOW TO INVEST?
How To Buy & Sell Mutual Funds? - NLoad vs. Load Funds
Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Mutual Fund!!-- Why You Should Buy a Mutual Fund, Exchange Traded Fund, Exchange Traded Notes? How To Invest In Mutual Funds To Make Money?
12 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook And On Any Other Social-Networking Site.. READ MORE BELOW
7 Things Not To Do, Or To Stop Doing Now on Facebook, Myspace, & Tagged. ------------------KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM 1. Using a Weak Password
Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word.
2. Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile
It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.
For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things.
You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.
4. Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption --KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.
5. Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.
6. Letting Search Engines Find You ---KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.
7. Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised
Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends.
Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says a social networking expert, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings. ---KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM '
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING DANGEROUS GAMES. THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT BE DOING.
KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
4. A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests typically in investment securities (stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments.
Other mutual funds, other securities, and/or commodities such as precious metals).[1]
5. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades (buys and sells) the fund's investments in accordance with the fund's investment objective.
In the U.S., a fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under both SEC and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules must distribute nearly all of its net income and net realized gains from the sale of securities -------------KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
Mutual Funds Mutual Funds. A mutual fund is a type of investment company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, money- market instruments .... ---------------
Mutual Funds - Understanding Mutual Funds, Mutual Fund Terms ... A complete guide to understanding mutual funds -- from fund types, sectors, and fees, to how to buy and sell mutual funds. ----------------KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
Invest Wisely: Mutual Funds Explains the basics of mutual fund investing — how mutual funds work, what factors to consider before investing, and how to avoid common pitfalls ------------------
Those are the five primary investment tools for the majority of investors looking to earn money outside of the bank accounts.
Risk/Tolerance Risk means taking a chance, Without the outcome not guaranteed to be in your favor. In life, most things require some degree of risk. Your tolerance is how comfortable you will feel with unfavorable outcome.
Risk versus tolerance is one of the first determinants in how you should invest your money. It is a way to assess which investment route you wish to take: Conservative or Aggressive.
Diversification To diversify means to ‘’spread it around’’ or do not put all your eggs in only one basket.
Commissions and costs The primary cost associated with investing is that of paying commissions. Whether you are trading online or dealing with a real human being {Brokers) commission fees , operating costs, or administrative fees will be attached.
Getting Started: On Your Own or With a Broker Choosing the way you will conduct your investing is an important decision. Fortunately, you have several options, Whichever way you choose to conduct your investment affairs has a lot to do with your level of investment interest and just how eager you are to make research.
Stock Basics What a stock represents Before you buy a stock, it’s a good idea to understand to understand exactly what that purchase represents. When you buy a stock, you actually buying a portion of corporation. Buying stocks in the stock market.--
Mutual Funds What is a mutual fund? A mutual is an investment vehicle that pools money of many investors and buy stocks, bonds, or other securities depending of the type of funds. Mutual funds investment.--
Bonds and Bond Funds-- Bonds are essentially a loan to a company, municipality, or the government. This is money to be paid back at a set date in the future Bonds Market.--
Real Estate Investment Real Estate is a road-map to riches, it’s one of the way to build wealth. The ultra rich always invest in real estate. There is no better investment than real estate despites the ups and downs, it outperformed all other investments. Real Estate is nothing but a passport to wealth. Real Estate Secrets ... Real Estate Investment Tools.
Retirement Plans and Other Safe Investments It’s never too late early to plan for your retirement or to set your sights on other future goals. As life expectancy increases, there are more years to enjoy, so it’s in your benefit to better plan accordingly. There are various popular options that provide comfortable investment opportunities. Some like 401k’ s, IRA, Pension plan .
THE ULTIMATE RETIREMENT GUIDE; HOW TO RETIRE EARLY AND RETIRE REACH. WHAT ARE 401K, ROTH 401K, INDIVIDUAL 401K, 403B, 457 PLAN, THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN.
Those are the five primary investment tools for the majority of investors looking to earn money outside of the bank accounts.
Are You Tired With A Job You Don't Like That Much? Or Are You Exhausted Of Been Unemployed?
BECOME AN INVESTOR... ''INVESTMENT: MAKE YOURSELF RICHER BY INVESTING THE RIGHT WAY IN THE RIGHT PRODUCTS. REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS CAN HELP
1. INVEST IN STOCK MARKET STOCK MARKET: STOCK MARKET A WAY TO INVEST AND MULTIPLY YOUR PROFITS. THESE INDUSTRIES HAS THOUSANDS OF COMPANIES TO BUY STOCKS FROM.
2. INVEST IN MUTUAL FUNDS MUTUAL FUNDS: MUTUAL FUNDS A WONDERFUL WAY TO INVEST YOUR MONEY. Buying and Selling mutual funds You can buy some mutual funds (no-load) by contacting the fund companies directly. Other funds are sold through brokers, banks, financial planners, or insurance agents.
3. BECOME AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNER. START, BUILD YOUR OWN BUSINESS with a financial services company. ''CHANGE YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE, MAKE REAL SUCCESS , MAKE EXTRA MONEY, BECOME YOUR OWN BOSS. ''CAREER AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY: What We Do, How we do it? --
4. INVEST IN BONDS BOND FUNDS: INVESTING IN THE BONDS MARKET. WHAT ARE BONDS? Have you ever borrowed money? Of course you have! Whether we hit our parents up for a few bucks to buy candy as children or asked the bank for a mortgage, most of us have borrowed money at some point in our lives.
FOREX MARKET: THE LARGEST MARKET IN THE WORLD TO INVEST AND GET RICHER IF YOU USE THE RIGHT TOOL. FOREIGN EXCHANGE-(forex or FX for short) is one of the most exciting, fast-paced markets around. Until recently, trading in the forex market had been the domain of large financial institutions, corporations, central banks, hedge funds and extremely wealthy individuals. The emergence of the internet has changed all of this, and now it is possible for average investors to buy and sell currencies easily with the click of a mouse.
COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT. ALL THAT CAN HELP! COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE; A BETTER WAY TO INVEST AND GET RICHER! MULTI-WAYS TO WIN BIG IN REAL ESTATE. WHAT IS COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE? -- 8. FOREX MARKET: Get involve in the foreign market exchange. Currency Exchange is the world largest market.. FOREX MARKET: THE LARGEST MARKET IN THE WORLD TO INVEST AND GET RICHER IF YOU USE THE RIGHT TOOL
9. Look for unclaimed benefits left by relatives, parents etc. UNCLAIMED MONEY, UNCLAIMED PROPERTY, THE FORGOTTEN TREASURE SEATING IN THE HANDS OF THE STATES GOVERNMENT COULD BE YOURS OR TO SOMEONE YOU MAY KNOW! Billions of dollars have been lost. Could some of it be yours? Yes the government may owed you money; you may not even know about it.
'11. 'REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT -- ''''REAL ESTATE IS THE ROAD MAP TO RICHES, THE BEST WAY TO BUILD WEALTH The ultra rich always invest in real estate. There is no better investment than real estate despites the ups and downs, it outperformed all other investments. Real Estate is nothing but a passport to wealth. --
12. ETF'S-EXCHANGE TRADED FUND==INDEX FUND INVESTMENT. ''''Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Discover exchange traded funds and learn how to make them a profitable part of your portfolio. -- ''Banking And Finance: BANKING-Learn how to invest the banking industry. The more you know the closer you are to accomplish great success. --m
'' Mutual Funds: What are mutual funds? A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds, and short-term debt. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - The combined holdings of the mutual fund are known as its portfolio. Investors buy shares in mutual funds. Each share represents an investor’s part ownership in the fund and the income it generates.
Why do people buy mutual funds? Mutual funds are a popular choice among investors because they generally offer the following features:
Professional Management. The fund managers do the research for you. They select the securities and monitor the performance. Diversification or “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Mutual funds typically invest in a range of companies and industries. This helps to lower your risk if one company fails. Affordability. Most mutual funds set a relatively low dollar amount for initial investment and subsequent purchases. Liquidity. Mutual fund investors can easily redeem their shares at any time, for the current net asset value (NAV) plus any redemption fees. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
What types of mutual funds are there? Most mutual funds fall into one of four main categories – money market funds, bond funds, stock funds, and target date funds. Each type has different features, risks, and rewards.
What are the benefits and risks of mutual funds? Mutual funds offer professional investment management and potential diversification. They also offer three ways to earn money: Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
Dividend Payments. A fund may earn income from dividends on stock or interest on bonds. The fund then pays the shareholders nearly all the income, less expenses. Capital Gains Distributions. The price of the securities in a fund may increase. When a fund sells a security that has increased in price, the fund has a capital gain. At the end of the year, the fund distributes these capital gains, minus any capital losses, to investors. Increased NAV. If the market value of a fund’s portfolio increases, after deducting expenses, then the value of the fund and its shares increases. The higher NAV reflects the higher value of your investment.
All funds carry some level of risk. With mutual funds, you may lose some or all of the money you invest because the securities held by a fund can go down in value. Dividends or interest payments may also change as market conditions change.
How to buy and sell mutual funds Investors buy mutual fund shares from the fund itself or through a broker for the fund, rather than from other investors. The price that investors pay for the mutual fund is the fund’s per share net asset value plus any fees charged at the time of purchase, such as sales loads. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com -
Mutual fund shares are “redeemable,” meaning investors can sell the shares back to the fund at any time. The fund usually must send you the payment within seven days.
Before buying shares in a mutual fund, read the prospectus carefully. The prospectus contains information about the mutual fund’s investment objectives, risks, performance, and expenses. Understanding fees As with any business, running a mutual fund involves costs. Funds pass along these costs to investors by charging fees and expenses. Powered By Knowledgefinancial.com And Financial Academy School.Com - Fees and expenses vary from fund to fund. A fund with high costs must perform better than a low-cost fund to generate the same returns for you. Even small differences in fees can mean large differences in returns over time
About Twitter Twitter is an easy way to keep up with the people, organizations, and events you care about - and to share your thoughts instantaneously. CLICK ON: Twitter-1--Twitter-2-
What Are Index Mutual Funds? Instead of hiring fund managers to actively select which stocks or bonds the fund will hold, an index fund buys all (or a representative sample) of the securities in a specific index, like the S&P 500 Index.
The goal of an index fund is to track the performance of a specific market benchmark as closely as possible. That's why you may hear it referred to as a "passively managed" fund. Index funds offer built-in benefits
Low costs Because index funds hold investments until the index itself changes, they generally have lower management and transaction costs.
Index funds helps lower risk through broader diversification Some index funds give you exposure to potentially thousands of securities in a single fund. Tax efficiency Broad index funds generally don't trade as much as actively managed funds might, so they're typically generating less taxable income, which reduces the drag on your investments.
Invest in index funds; Saving for something other than retirement?
Invest in index funds; You can open an IRA It's also a great way to complement a 401(k) or 403(b) plan you're investing in at work. Choose between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA based on your income**, age, and preference for how you want to pay taxes. =======
Retirement Savings Made Easy Saving for retirement might be the most important thing you ever do with your money. And the earlier you begin, the less money it will take!
Don't know where to start? You've come to the right place at Knowledge Financial Group - knowledgefinancial.com You probably have a lot of questions about saving for retirement.
How much will I need? What year will I retire? What are the best ways to save for retirement?
The good news is that you don't need to figure everything out right now.
The most important thing to do is to get started. Here are 3 simple steps you should take today by facebook.com/knowledgefinancialgroup and knowledgefinancialgroup.blogspot.com
Find the right kind of account for your savings. Choose the investments for your account. Open your account online.
Here at Knowledge Financial Group; We're standing by to answer your questions and help you make a plan to save for retirement.
Invest in index; With index funds you can set up an account for an organization— including corporations, partnerships, limited liability corporations, and sole proprietorships; endowments and foundations; estates; professional associations; or unincorporated enterprises. ===== An investment in a money market fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. ==== Here At Knowledge Financial Group, We put our investors' interests first at all times
Mutual Funds: Mutual funds can help lower investing risks Take some of the anxiety out of investing by letting a mutual fund do a little of the work for you. Give your money a chance to grow Investing in mutual funds offers benefits you won't get from trading individual stocks and bonds on your own. ===== Less risk through more diversification One mutual fund can invest in hundreds—sometimes thousands—of individual securities at once. So if any one security does poorly, the others are there to help offset that risk. ==== Professional management You don't have to keep track of every security your mutual fund owns. The fund is managed by experts who take care of that for you. Convenience You can buy and sell mutual fund shares online or by phone and set up automatic investments and withdrawals.
Exchange-traded products (ETP) are a type of security that is derivatively priced and trades intra- day on a national securities exchange.
ETPs are priced so the value is derived from other investment instruments, such as a commodity, a currency, a share price or an interest rate. Generally, ETPs are benchmarked to stocks, commodities or indices.
They can also be actively managed funds. ETPs include exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange- traded vehicles (ETVs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and certificates.
Exchange Traded Products – ETP' The most popular type of ETP is the ETF. ETFs are securities that track an index, commodity or basket of assets. ETNs, on the other hand, are a type of unsecured, unsubordinated debt security.
The value of an ETN can be affected by the credit rating of the issuer and not just changes in the underlying index.
ETPs have experienced huge growth since they were introduced. Different tax treatment applies to the various types of ETPs. Exchange-Traded Products vs. Mutual Funds
ETPs such as the ETF were developed out of the desire to create a fund that had more flexibility than the mutual fund. Mutual funds are typically priced just once at the end of the trading day, but ETFs trade like stocks and can be bought and sold throughout the day. ETPs often carry slightly lower expense ratios than their mutual fund counterparts.
ETPs also require a brokerage account to trade, so buying and selling ETP shares is likely to result in brokerage commission costs.
Additionally, differences in the bid price and ask price of a security could add to the cost of trading in ETPs.
Many no-load mutual funds, on the other hand, can be bought and sold without any trading commission, and they do not require a brokerage account. Growth of Exchange-Traded Products
Since the debut of the first ETF in 1993, these funds and other ETPs have grown significantly in size and popularity.
The low-cost structure of ETPs has contributed to their popularity. Many ETPs are lower-cost index funds, which continue to attract assets away from potentially higher-cost actively managed funds.
Key Points
Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are not exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETNs are not backed by a separate pool of assets. Unlike a traditional ETF, ETNs have inherent credit risk. -----------
ETF, ETN, ETP—what does it all mean?
While ETNs are sometimes grouped alongside ETFs, the big umbrella term that covers both of them is ETP: exchange-traded product.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of securities such as stocks, bonds or commodities. It's similar in many ways to a mutual fund, but it trades on an exchange like a stock. An important characteristic of ETFs and mutual funds is that they're legally separate from the company that manages them.
They're structured as separate "investment companies," "limited partnerships" or "trusts." This matters because even if the parent company behind the ETF goes out of the business, the assets of the ETF itself are completely separate and investors will still own the assets held by the fund.
Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are different. Instead of being an independent pool of securities, an ETN is a bond issued by a financial institution.
That company promises to pay ETN holders the return on some index over a certain period of time and return the principal of the investment at maturity.
However, if something happens to that company (such as bankruptcy) and it's unable to make good on its promise to pay,
ETN holders could be left with a worthless investment (just like anyone else who had lent the company money). Why would anyone buy an ETN?
Given that ETNs carry credit risk, you might wonder why anyone uses them at all. But there are a few features that attract some investors to ETNs.m
Exchange-Traded Notes—Avoid Unpleasant Surprises
It is important to understand what exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are and how they work before you consider investing in them to avoid unpleasant surprises.
ETNs are a type of debt security that trade on exchanges and promise a return linked to a market index or other benchmark.
ETNs can offer investors convenient and cost - effective exposure to everything from commodities to emerging markets, but they can be complex and carry numerous risks—including the risk that the issuer will default on the note or take other actions that may impact the price of the ETN.
FINRA is issuing this Alert to inform investors of the features and some particular risks of ETNs—and to suggest questions to ask when considering investing in these products.
While the names may sound alike, investors should also understand that ETNs and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) differ in some fundamental and important ways. What Are ETNs?
ETNs are unsecured debt obligations of the issuer— typically a bank or another financial institution. They are, however, different from traditional bonds. For example, unlike traditional bonds,
ETNs typically do not pay any interest payments to investors. Instead, the issuer promises to pay the holder of the ETN an amount determined by the performance of the underlying index or benchmark on the ETN’s maturity date (typically 10, 30 or in some cases even 40 years from issuance), minus any specified fees.
In addition, unlike traditional bonds, ETNs trade on exchanges throughout the day at prices determined by the market, similar to stocks or ETFs. But unlike ETFs, ETNs do not buy or hold assets to replicate or approximate the performance of the underlying index. Although investors may come across materials that refer to ETNs as shares, they are in fact unsecured debt obligations.
Some ETNs provide exposure to familiar, broad- based indexes, while others do so to less familiar asset classes or newer, more complex, or even proprietary indexes.
For example, there are ETNs linked to indexes that track emerging markets, commodities such as gold and oil, foreign currencies and market volatility. Some of the indexes and investment strategies used by ETNs can be quite sophisticated and may not have much performance history.
The return on an ETN generally depends on price changes if the ETN is sold prior to maturity (as with stocks or ETFs)—or on the payment, if any, if the ETN is held to maturity or redeemed (as with some other structured products).
ETN Trading, Issuance and Redemption
ETNs list on an exchange and can be bought and sold at market prices, similar to other exchange- traded investments.
Market prices of ETNs may fluctuate due to movements in the indexes they track, as well as other factors, including ETN issuances and redemption activity.
Issuers of ETNs issue and redeem notes as a means to keep the ETN’s price in line with a calculated value, called the indicative value or closing indicative value for ETNs. This value is calculated and published at the end of each day by the ETN issuer.
When an ETN is trading at a premium above the indicative value, issuing more notes to the market can bring the price down. Similarly, if an ETN is trading at a discount, redemption of notes by the issuer reduces the number of notes available in the market, which tends to raise the price.
ETN issuers have primary control over the issuance and redemption processes in the ETN market. The decision to issue additional notes is at the issuer’s sole discretion.
Investors may initiate the redemption process prior to an ETN’s maturity date, following precise steps laid out by the issuer in the prospectus. The process generally begins by submitting a "notice of redemption" form to the issuer.
Indicative Value and Market Price—Be Alert When There is Significant Deviation
An ETN’s closing indicative value, as well as its intraday indicative value, are distinct from an ETN’s market price, which is the price at which an ETN trades in the secondary market.
In theory, an ETN’s market price should closely track its closing and intraday indicative values. However, an ETN’s market price can deviate, sometimes significantly, from its indicative value.
Price deviations can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, an ETN might trade at a premium to its indicative value if the issuer suspends issuance of new notes.
Paying a premium relative to the indicative value to purchase the ETN in the secondary market—and then selling the ETN when the market price no longer reflects the premium—can lead to significant losses for an investor.
This occurred when an ETN experienced price movement that diverged significantly from its indicative value and the performance of the index it tracks, due in part to suspensions in the issuance of new notes, which caused the ETN to trade at a significant premium—nearly 90 percent.
When the issuer of the ETN resumed the issuance of new notes, the market price of the ETN fell sharply—dropping by more than half in two days.
For this reason, before trading in the secondary market, it’s a good idea to compare an ETN’s closing and intraday indicative values with the market price.
If the ETN is trading at a significant premium to its closing or intraday indicative value, you might want to consider similar products that are not trading at a premium, or that provide similar expose to the index or asset class.
It’s also a good idea to ask whether the issuer has suspended issuing new notes, and if so, why.
Find out from your broker what type of orders you may place for the ETN and what will happen if it is no longer listed on an exchange.
Risks to Consider
There are a number of risks associated with ETNs, including:
Credit Risk. ETNs are unsecured debt obligations of the issuer. If the issuer defaults on the note, investors may lose some or all of their investment.
Market Risk. ETNs are market- linked: the value of an ETN is largely influenced by the value of the index it tracks. As an index's value changes with market forces, so will the value of the ETN in general, which can result in a loss of principal to investors.
Thus, in addition to credit risk, an ETN subjects investors to market risk, which is generally not assumed by investors in traditional corporate debt. Also, make sure you understand what the index being tracked by the ETN is measuring—for example, some indices reflect a dynamic trading strategy and others are based on futures markets. Also, some indices reflect "total returns" while others may not.
Liquidity Risk. Although ETNs are exchange- traded, they do carry some liquidity risk. As with other exchange-traded products, a trading market may not develop.
In addition, under some circumstances, issuers can delist an ETN. If this happens, the market for the ETN can dry up or evaporate entirely.
Price-Tracking Risk. ETNs like other exchange-traded products, typically trade at prices that closely track their indicative values, but this might not always be the case.
When trading in the secondary market, check market prices against indicative values, and be wary of buying at a price that varies significantly from closing and intraday indicative values.
Holding-Period Risk. Some ETNs, particularly some leveraged, inverse and inverse leveraged ETNs, are designed to be short-term trading tools (with holding periods as short as one day) rather than buy-and-hold investments.
Because of the effects of compounding, the performance of these products over long periods can differ significantly from the stated multiple of the performance (or inverse of the performance) of the underlying index or benchmark during the same period.
Call, Early Redemption and Acceleration Risk. Some ETNs are callable at the issuer's discretion. In some instances ETNs can be subject to early redemption or an "accelerated" maturity date at the discretion of the issuer or one of its affiliates.
Since ETNs may be called at any time, their value when called may be less than the market price that you paid or even zero, resulting in a partial or total loss of your investment.
Conflicts of Interest. There are a number of potential conflicts of interest between you and the issuer of these products. For example, the issuer of the notes may engage in trading activities that are at odds with investors who hold the notes (shorting strategies, for instance).
Search the ETN's prospectus for any mention of "conflicts of interest" and evaluate whether these conflicts are worth the risk.
Before You Invest
Make sure you have answers to the following questions so that you can better assess whether an ETN investment is right for you:
Who is the issuer? Once you know, be sure to research the issuer’s credit rating and financial situation. If the issuer is publicly traded, use the SEC's EDGAR database.
Keep in mind that ETNs are not registered investment companies and therefore are not subject to the same registration, disclosure and other regulatory requirements as most ETFs or mutual funds.
What index or benchmark does the ETN track? If it involves an unfamiliar market or asset class, ask yourself whether you feel informed enough about the market or asset to effectively assess the risks involved.
Is the ETN callable by the issuer? You can find this out by reading the prospectus or asking your financial professional.
Does the ETN offer leveraged or inverse exposure to the underlying index or benchmark? If so, how frequently does it "reset"? One clue may be in the ETN’s name: words like "daily" and "short-term" often indicate that the product resets daily and is not intended to be held for long periods of time.
What fees and costs are associated with the ETN? ETNs differ widely with respect to fees, including the investor fee charged in connection with redemptions. Read the prospectus and ask your investment professional to clearly explain any fees and expenses associated with a given ETN.
What are the tax consequences? The tax treatment of ETNs can vary depending on the nature of the ETN. Check with your tax advisor if you are unsure about the tax implications of a particular investment.
As with all investments, it pays to do your own homework regarding ETNs. Only invest if you are confident the ETN can help you meet your investment objectives and you are knowledgeable and comfortable with the risks associated with the investment.
There a several different share classes of mutual funds. Most investors are familiar with A Shares, B Shares and C Shares but what are institutional mutual funds, the ones that have an I an X a Y or a Z on the end of the fund name?
Institutional Share Class Definition.. Institutional shares of mutual funds, often labeled as "Inst" funds, Class I, Class X, Class Y or Class Z, are generally only available to large (institutional) investors with minimum investment amounts of $25,000 or more.
Should You Buy Institutional Class Funds?
In general, institutional class mutual funds are better than other share classes because the lower expense ratios translate into higher returns for the investors because the fund is not withholding as much money for the purpose of paying the operating costs of the mutual fund.
What Is the Best Share Class for Most Investors?
It's not common for an individual investor to gain access to institutional share funds but there are plenty of high quality, low cost no-load mutual funds that can perform as well as or better than most institutional share funds. No-load funds are often referred to as "investor shares" and do not always have a formal share class title. Therefore you won't often find a letter, such as A, B, C or I, at the end of the mutual fund name.
Index funds can be smart choices for do-it-yourself investors because they are often highly diversified and charge extremely low fees.
Disclaimer From The Team Of Femkonsa Capital Investment And, Or Knowledge Financial Group: The information on this site is provided for discussion purposes only, and should not be misconstrued as investment advice.
Under no circumstances does this information represent a recommendation to buy or sell securities.
When buying funds; always consider a fund's investment objectives, riks, charges, and expenses very carefully before investing. Remember to go over the prospectus, or summary prospectus. ----------- Mutual fund investing involves risk. Some mutual have more risks than others.
Think that the investment return and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold may be worth more or less... NOTE: The materials in this site are for informational, or educational purposes only...
No-Load vs. Load Funds ... Which Type is Best for You and What is the Difference? before you build a portfolio of mutual funds you need to learn the basics of loads and understand the purposes and differences between the various share classes of mutual funds. You will then be able to determine which type is best for you
What is a Mutual Fund Load? A mutual fund load is a fee charged for the purchase or sale of a mutual fund.
Loads charged upon purchase of fund shares are called front-end loads and loads charged upon the sale of a mutual fund are called back-end loads or a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC). Funds that charge loads are generally referred to as "load funds" and funds that do not charge loads are called "no-load funds."
Reasons to Buy a Load Fund Why buy a load fund? At first, you may think that no-load funds are the best way to go for investors but this is not always the case. The reason for buying loaded funds is the same as the reasons loads exist in the first place -- to pay the advisor or broker who did the fund research, made the recommendation, sold you the fund, and then placed the trade for the purchase..
'' Oil And Gas Mutual Funds'' = Equity Energy.. Equity Energy portfolios invest primarily in equity securities of U.S. or non-U.S. companies who conduct business primarily in energy-related industries. This includes and is not limited to companies in alternative energy, coal, exploration, oil and gas services, pipelines, natural gas services and refineries --------------- List of Major Oil ETFs and ETNs
FUND KNOWLEDGE EXPLAINS BY: KNOWLEDGE FINANCIALGROUP.COM ---- Balanced Fund A mutual fund that buys a combination o f common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and short-term bonds, to provide both income and capital appreciation while avoiding excessiverisk.
The purpose of balanced funds (also sometimes called hybrid funds) is to provide investors with a single mutual fund that comb ines both growth and incomeobj ectives, by investing in both stocks (for growth) and bonds (for income).
Such diversifiedholdings ensur e that these funds will manage downturns in the stock market without too much of a loss; the flip side, of course, is that balanced funds will usually increase less than an all-stock fund during a bull market.
'Balanced Fund' A fund that combines a stock component, a bond component and, sometimes, a money market component, in a single portfolio.
Generally, these hybrid funds stick to a relatively fixed mix of stocks and bonds that reflects either a moderate (higher equity component) or conservative (higher fixed-income component) orientation.
'Balanced Fund' A balanced fund is geared toward investors who are looking for a mixture of safety, income and modest capital appreciation.
The amounts that such a mutual fund invests into each asset class usually must remain within a set minimum and maximum. ------------------------------ -------------
'Growth Fund' A diversified portfolio of stocks that has capital appreciation as its primary goal, with little or no dividend payouts.
Portfolio companies would mainly consist of companies with above-average growth in earnings that reinvest their earnings into expansion, acquisitions, and/or -----------
'Growth Fund' Most growth funds offer higher potential capital appreciation but usually at above-average risk. Growth funds are more volatile than funds in the value and blend categories.
The companies in a growth fund portfolio are in an expansion phase and they are not expected to pay dividends. Investing in growth funds requires a tolerance for risk and a holding period with a time horizon of five to 10 years. ---------------------------
'Income Fund' A type of mutual fund that emphasizes current income, either on a monthly or quarterly basis, as opposed to capital appreciation.
Such funds hold a variety of government, municipal and corporate debt obligations, preferred stock, money market instruments, and dividend-paying stocks. ---------- 'Income Fund' Share prices of income funds are not fixed; they tend to fall when interest rates are rising and to increase when interest rates are falling.
Generally, the bonds included in the portfolios of these funds are of investment grade.
The other securities are of sufficient credit quality to assure a preservation of capital.
There are two popular high-risk funds that also focus mainly on income: high-yield bond funds and bank loan funds.
The former invests primarily in corporate "junk" bonds and the latter in floating-rate loans issued by banks or other financial institutions.
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'Aggressive Growth Fund' A mutual fund that attempts to achieve the highest capital gains.
Investments held in these funds are companies that demonstrate high growth potential, usually accompanied by a lot of share price volatility.
These funds are only for non risk-averse investors willing to accept a high risk-return trade-off.
Also commonly referred to as a "capital appreciation fund" or "maximum capital gains fund". KNOWLEDGEF INANCIAL GROUP