What exactly are Mutual Funds?When can You invest in them?I mean the age.....?

Answer 1

You can open your own account if you are 18 or older.
You can open your own account by having an adult to sign for it and approve it for you. There have been cases of minors opening theior own account with out parents knowledge and making several hundred thousands of dollars before their parents found out about it via tax time:):).

Before turning your money lose to a broker research different mutural funds. locat the ones with th ebest track record in savings and safety. Than check with different companies(brokage firms) to see wha tit costs you. Most mutural funds pay brokage firms ot push their product and often brokers will try to sel you low producing funds whihc pay good brokeage fees, At the sam etime they will also charg ebrokage fees when there ar ecompanie swhich will not charge for the same service.
Yu can run into brokage companie s where your personal broker will charge you more fo rthe same service another brokage
30 5 ft away woud. If yuo are not satified with you broker don't sweat changing. it's your money.
Example,
AG Edwards charged me 4% on the gross amout as brokage fees buying or selling while anothe rcompanya charged a flat rate of $50 per trade regardless of the gross amount.
Another charges 10.99 per trade regardless of the gross amount (online).
A mutural Fund is
a form of collective investment that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. [1] In a mutual fund, the fund manager trades the fund's underlying securities, realizing capital gains or loss, and collects the dividend or interest income. The investment proceeds are then passed along to the individual investors. The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset value (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the number of shares purchased by investors.

Legally known as an "open-end company", a mutual fund is one of three basic types of investment companies available in the United States.[2] Outside of the U.S. (with the exception of Canada which follows the US model), mutual fund is a generic term for various types of collective investment. In the UK and western Europe (including offshore jurisdictions), other forms of collective investment are prevalent including unit trusts, Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICs), SICAVs and unitized insurance funds.



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These are good companies to start with ;
Invest in Mutual Funds at TD AMERITRADE
www.tdameritrade.com

www.etrade.com

Mutual Funds at Fidelity
www.fidelity.com - Benefit from over 50 years of fund management experience.

Investing in Mutual Funds - Best Mutual Funds - ETF Funds
Learn about the best mutual and ETF funds at our site. ... and his flagship funds in search for value. ... MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. Four midcap funds to watch ...www.marketwatch.com/pf/fund/default.asp?siteid=mktw

Answer 2

Mutual funds are institutions who invest on different shares from the money collected from several investors. The advantage is that individuals cannot invest in large no. of stocks, and thus the risk can be minimised. An NAV for the particular fund is calculated on daily basis, for selling the fund units and also for repurchase by the fund managers. There are both diviidend and growth options. Also, dedicated segments are selected as midcap funds, small cap funds, capital appreciation funds, investments in IPOs only etc.,
If monors, guardians can invest on their behalf. Otherwise, one should have attained the age of eighteen for directlly investing on Mutual Funds.
VR

Answer 3

A mutual fund enables investors to pool their money and place it under professional investment management.

Mutual funds are not listed for trading on a stock exchange and are issued by companies which use their capital to invest in other companies. They are a method of investing in various underlying investments such as stocks, bonds, mortgages, treasury bills and real estate.

Mutual funds provide the advantages of professional investment management, liquidity, investment record keeping and diversification.

I don't know about the age part. But I think, that the age most probably differs from country to country. If you are a minor, you can always invest in the name of your parents/guardians.

Answer 4

A mutual fund is a group of investors operating through a fund manager to purchase a diverse portfolio of stocks or bonds. There are myriad kinds of mutual funds, each with its own goals and methodologies. Whether or not a mutual fund is a good investment is a matter of much public debate, with many claiming they are excellent for the average person, and others saying they are simply a poor way to invest.

A mutual fund may be either an actively managed fund or an indexed mutual fund. Actively managed funds are changed on a regular basis by a fund manager in the attempt to maximize their profitability. They fund manager looks at the market and the sectors a fund invests in and redistributes the fund accordingly. An indexed fund simply takes one of the major indexes and buys according to that index. Indexed funds change much less frequently than actively managed funds, but in theory an active fund has more potential for profit.

Many critics of mutual funds point out that scarcely over 20% of mutual funds outperform the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. This means that nearly 80% of the time, an investor would have been more profitable by simply buying equal shares in all 500 of the companies currently on the S&P 500.

Supporters point out that for most people the complications involved in traditional investment are simply not worth the effort. A mutual fund offers an easy way to invest in something with a higher return than, say, interest earned at the bank, while keeping funds somewhat fluid. It also eliminates the need to track the market oneself.

There are more types of mutual fund available than there are publicly traded stocks, making the process of choosing one a somewhat daunting prospect for most people. In general, it is good to look at a few types of mutual fund that catch your eye and investigate them to see if they fit your needs. The length of time you want to remain invested, associated costs, tax status, and whether a fund is closed- or open-ended may all prove important.

The sector of investment for a mutual fund may also be something you want to look at. Many sector funds exist, and they are most often the top-performing mutual funds in a given year. The problem, of course, is guessing which sector will next see uniform growth, and avoiding sectors that can be hard-hit by single events, such as transportation.

Many people may also want to consider mutual funds which have specific social agendas, in addition to making a profit. A number of environmentally-friendly mutual funds exist which only invest in companies that meet certain best-practices criteria. Mutual funds based on other social views, political slants, and religious inclinations also exist.

Whichever mutual fund you ultimately wind up using, it is important to stay diversified. Having some money in long-term funds and stocks, with some in money-market funds and bonds, is always a smart way to plan for the future and any bumps that may occur in the market.

please ask hdfcbank or icicibank for best performing mutual fund and get advice

Answer 5

I think your first question (what do I mean by "respect") is difficult to answer because there are different types of respect. For example, I could respect somebody by being willing to seek their expertise in a specific subject. Or, I could respect somebody by not hassling them about a point on which I think they are wrong. Or, I could respect somebody's wishes by not actively acting against those wishes, even if I think I acting against them would be morally justified. I think respect is too ambiguous a word that applies in too many cases for it to be given a simple definition. As far as being worthy of respect, I suppose I think everybody is worthy of respect in some way. I'm not entirely sure what criteria I use to determine whether or not somebody is worthy of my respect... I'll think about it some more and if I come up with an answer I'll get back to you. So, in conclusion, my answer to your question is that I can't really answer your question.

Answer 6

http://www.investopedia.com/categories/mutualfunds.asp