2007-11-01 05:07:42 · 9 answers · asked by smiles 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
rule of thumb is carry approx 3-6 months of your yearly salary in a savings account as an emergency fund, home/auto repair, job change, etc... and beyond that mutual funds are a good idea. I've been in non-US funds - China(FHKCX), South East Asia (FSEAX), Latin America(FLATX), and Canada(FICDX) since the 2003 bull market began because they've more then quadrupled what the US has done. You should watch what the leaders are in any bull market and diversify across them. It doesn't have to be country specific, it could be energy, etc... morningstar.com is an excellent resource for keeping track of the best performing funds.
I would have some funds in a normal account ie in Tradeking.com, and some in a Roth IRA account. Look at Suzeorman.com for some excellent personal finance recommendations
2007-11-01 05:37:28 · answer #1 · answered by Supra1Q 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mutual Funds.
2007-11-01 06:13:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
A savings account draws a very low interest rate, mutual funds have there drawbacks also, but in the long run you will come out better with the mutual funds.
2007-11-01 05:20:05 · answer #3 · answered by Ricky H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mutual Funds --Long term growth- managed- all actively managed funds have annual fee's..go with no load families like dodge and cox/t.rowe price/fidelity/etc... The buy in for a lot of funds is $2500 and $50-100 minimum reinvestment (after you set it up you can transfer small amounts online via your bank..usually no fee's) Vanguard's funds are usually $3000 buy in and American funds and other loaded funds are usually low like $250 buy in but you lose a big chunk in sales fee's. Most funds have penalty for selling out within 90 days, these really aren't for buying at $67 selling at $68. Not like stocks where you have to have a buyer...these can be redeemed easily.
Stocks you can gain bigger/lose bigger..alot less diversified and not ideal to invest in small increments due to trading fees (a $20 investment with a $10 broker fee = 50% load basically
Big money here....also some stocks are hard to sell.
I say mutual funds/stocks if you are looking to build wealth, CD's/Bonds if you are looking to preserve it.
Also if you make a profit (holding fund shares/stock shares less than so long) you get a higher income tax vs keeping it for a year and getting long term gains.
I don't know anything about currency (forex). Alot of people are index fund crazy, but my funds outperform the index even after the fee's so I don't care to look into them.
Pick a good no loaded fund I say
2007-11-04 14:20:58 · answer #4 · answered by js789 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Short term money should be in a savings or money market account. Long term money should be in mutual funds, ETFs, individual stocks, or bonds.
You can't predict the short term movements of the markets, but over the long term they will move up.
Be careful with mutual funds and ETFs though. There are thousands of different ones. Most are not that good, but there are plenty that are good. You must do your homework & find the good ones.
2007-11-01 16:14:43 · answer #5 · answered by Tom H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bank accounts are absolutely safe, but they pay relatively low interest. Mutual funds always involve the risk that you will lose money or make very little, but historically, over the long term, they have done better than bank savings.
Investing always involves this risk/ reward balance. So what will suit you depends on the type of person you are. It is one of the big decisions in one's life.
2007-11-01 06:25:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have money in both. Most of it is in mutual funds, though. A lot of my retirement money is in mutual funds.
2007-11-01 05:16:16 · answer #7 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mutual Funds gain you more money over time.
2007-11-01 05:14:41 · answer #8 · answered by smartiebc 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Mutual Funds will likely yield a higher percentage of return on your investmet.
2007-11-01 05:14:51 · answer #9 · answered by Doug H 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋