peter9982's  Instablog

Most people started out in mutual funds via the bank.
That's the worst way to invest for many reasons.
They are bias toward funds that pays them the most commission.
Instead, you should buy directly from Vanguard, T-Rowe Price or any no-load & low management fee fund companies.
I would skip all that because even if you purchase your mutual fund on 1/1 and don't sell it, you will get a statement at the end of the year stating that you have capital gains.  You heard it right, the reason is that they sold the shares in the fund and it's pass thru you.  It's confusing.
The best way is to open a stock brokage account like e*Trade, Scottrade, or TD Ameritrade.  They charge you per trade so there is no management fee or capital gains that didn't actually happen.

When I was in college, trading stocks were expensive.  It cost me over $100 to trade $3000 worth of stocks.  Now, I trade it for $3 flat no matter what amount.  Some companies even offer free trading with requirements of course.
Also, ETFs are just like mutual funds but with no surprises and low management fee.
You can buy and sell at any time unlike mutual funds.
If you have some money like $50,000 or more, you can buy the Dow 30 stocks without payment any management fee forever.  You just buy the 30 stocks and hold them til you die.  The only fee is if you trade them and it's only $5 or less per trade.

Do you really need someone to manage your money?
No, unless he is Warren Buffet.
Most fund managers don't do as well as the S&P 500 Index that they are trying to beat.

I had been trading for years and beats the market index every year even when the market crashed, I crashed less.  LOL






Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.