My Personal Finance Blog

If you want to invest money for a better future and don’t want to constantly monitor your money, 2011 is as good a time as ever to invest money in funds. In fact, mutual funds offer most people the best investment options out there because they do the day-to-day money management for you. In the simplest of terms, here are some tips to help you invest money and find the best funds to keep yourself out of trouble in 2011 and beyond.

Keep in mind that you don’t invest in mutual funds to speculate in stocks and bonds. You invest in them because funds were designed as a way for millions of average folks to get a piece of the action in stocks and bonds with professional money managers making the investment decisions. Your job is to simply decide how much money to invest in each of the 3 basic types of funds, and then to pick the best investment options or funds in each area to fit your risk profile. Here are some tips, because 2011 and beyond could be a little tricky.

In order to really make your money grow over the years you need to invest in stocks. The average person’s best investment options in this department are equity (stock) funds. Equity funds range from aggressive growth funds that pay zip in dividends but can go up like a rocket in good economic times… to blue-chip equity-income funds that invest your money in large corporations that pay steady dividends with milder fluctuations in stock price. Since the higher a stock (fund) price soars the harder it falls, for 2011 and beyond I’d invest my stock money with the more conservative equity-income funds. It’s nice to get a 2% or 3% yearly dividend when you can hardly find 1% at the bank.

The second basic type of mutual funds is bond funds, and for 98% of the people they represent the best investment options for putting money into bonds. Millions of Americans invest money in bond funds, but few understand bonds, which is what these funds invest your money in. Here we keep it simple and go to the bottom line. If you want details, I’ve got a number of bond articles that go there. Simply said, you should invest money in bonds (funds) because they pay higher interest income than you can get elsewhere, and tend to balance out your overall investment portfolio.

Traditionally, bond funds can offset some losses from stock investments because they have often tended to be one of the best investment options when stocks were out of favor and in the dumps. In the bond department you can be aggressive or more conservative as well. For 2011 and beyond I would suggest you go conservative again because our economy and interest rate situation are precarious at best. Interest rates are near record lows and have been falling since the early 1980s. The economy is still struggling to grow with high unemployment.

What this means to you when you invest money in bond funds: when interest rates head back UP, SOME bond funds won’t be your best investment options. But remember, you need to invest money and keep it invested for the longer-term. You are not trying to speculate, but still need some money in these funds for balance. Your best investment in the bond department for 2011 and beyond: intermediate-term bond funds vs. long-term funds. The latter are too risky and will get burnt when interest rates go back up.

That takes us to the third and last of the basic investment options for funds and investing in general. Money market funds are very safe investments and pay interest income based on prevailing interest rates, which were historically low heading into 2011. Don’t avoid these safe investments because they have one redeeming characteristic other than safety: when rates go back up the interest they will pay will automatically follow suit.

So, yes you should invest money in mutual funds, now and in the future. The year 2011 will present challenges, but where else can you invest in stocks and bonds with professional money management working for you at a modest cost? Your objective should be to invest money and make the best of it. Your best investment options as an average investor haven’t basically changed much in over the past 40 or so years. You just need to focus on where to invest your money in funds so you can stay out of serious trouble when times are rough. Over the longer term, that’s the best you can do as an investor.

Crises never ask for their permission before coming. They come without informing people and sweep all their well done things. It is always better to be prepared and aware for the circumstances so that precautionary measures can be taken. Investments could be one of the best options so that people can save as well as double their money in no time. People have various options to save their money in bonds, mutual funds, stocks, savings accounts, property, etc. Some people have become smart enough to invest their money in liquid assets like cash, currencies, gold jewelry, etc.

It is always necessary to know whether you investments are safe. Never take chances on risky investment options as all your hard work and effort could be looted. There are a plenty low risk options available and one should choose the best among the rest. Mutual funds for investments are a viable option. Mutual funds consist of bonds and stocks. Their values keep fluctuating and are not fixed but are a reliable selection for investments. Always take advice from the professionals so that they can guide you the right way.

Another low risk option, bonds are a perfect selection for investments. Banks issue most of the bonds which are a very safe option. Whereas, the most low risk options for investments are the bonds by government. Certificates of deposits are one of most preferred options as you have a surety that you are getting some fixed amount of interest for the amount you kept save in the bank. Annuity is another option which is like a contract and after a given period of time it is collected into a series of returns. It’s a feasible option for the retired people.

Setting aside money for one’s retirement or any other large, long-term goal, is a tough thing to do. Making that decision to get started is a big step all on its own. But that decision is just the first step in the investment process. Next comes the decision as to which investment vehicle makes the most sense for an investor. For new investors, the best way to invest is through a balanced fund, whether it is a mutual fund or a properly diversified exchange traded fund. Despite some of the shortcoming to balanced investments there are several huge benefits, which we outline here:

1. Balanced funds offer an optimal asset mix for those with the right risk tolerance. Whether you have $1,000 to invest or $1,000,000, choosing a balanced fund can be easy if your primary objective is asset allocation. For investors who do not know a whole bunch about investing, leaving the asset mix problem to a professional investment manager, such as a portfolio manager in a mutual fund or exchange traded fund, is a prudent investment. This is also true of target-date funds, where the asset mix will evolve according to the investor’s “target date.” Taking a hands-off approach by leaving your money to the professionals is a wise decision.

2. Balanced funds employ teams of experts in various economic and market capacities. Unlike many investors who rely solely on their own knowledge or on the knowledge they obtain by visiting their favorite websites and reading various books, investment companies will look at all of the things that the average, individual investor will miss. Things as intangible as market sentiment and technical analysis to things as tangible as a company’s fundamentals and the yield curve are instrumental in making a wise investment decision. Given the dollars a lot of these fund companies manage, it makes sense for them to have a full team helping with key investment decision; it does not make so much sense for the average investor to hire a team.

3. Liquidity. Unlike a lot of other properly diversified investments, a balanced investment fund offers quick liquidity. In other words, rather selling offer all dozen or so of one’s individual holdings, a balanced fund will meet redemption requests in almost all circumstances. This is a big plus for investors who are not sure when they might actually need their money.

Overall, balanced investment funds offer a great solution for new investors who want to get their feet wet. Not only are they properly managed and offer the benefits outlined above, but they also allow many investors to enjoy all of the benefits of the various assets within the fund while being somewhat cushioned from the idiosyncrasies of other assets thanks to diversification.

In order to be a successful investor and/or trader, one must define beforehand where how much and when one should invest according to its own age and financial status. Compound interest plays a big role here, so it will be way different (and harder) for a person that is almost retiring to become a millionaire than for a person that is at a young age. The young one, will have to same way less money in order to fulfill his own dreams.

Start young and finish earlier

At an old age, it will be way harder to accumulate all the wealth that you intend it to. It is still possible, but it will take way more work in order to do it so. You will have to have better investments and will have to save more money month after month. I believe the biggest drawback is that if something happen and you end up losing a big chunk of your equity, then you might not have sufficient time to recover. Plus, with that, the emotional stress that you will have to sustain will be greater than one for a young person.

If you are young, you are able to risk more and to try more because you have enough time to recover from a potential loss if that happens. Do not expect to always win. That is the market: sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Just try to win BIGGER that you lose. You may have noticed that I did not say more, I said bigger. It is like that because, if you take your time, study and fully understand what you are doing, it is possible to lose more times than you win and still come out with a profit. That happens all the time with many investors. You just have to know what you are doing.

Proper research

When investing, a proper research and due diligence will pay big dividends. Most neophytes start out in the market hoping and expecting to duplicate their money in their first year. When that does not happen, they go out crying blaming everyone but themselves for their losses. You have to take your time in the market and study it carefully before acting upon it. Start light, do not try to make a stand where you can’t fall. Start light and as you go along and gain experience, then you slowly starting increasing your trades to have a better chance at the market.

Investors who have different risk profiles, investment objectives and time frames will adopt different investment strategies in order to achieve a similar result. Basically, there are two types of investors; aggressive and conservative.

An aggressive investor will take a shorter time period to achieve the desired result as his risk attitude should reward him with a higher rate of return, given a dynamic portfolio investment style and a well drawn up investment philosophy.

For any reasonable portfolio management exercise to be meaningful, you must have at least $50,000 to start with. If you’re looking at a portfolio of shares or unit trusts, $50,000 will be a good starting point. As for property investment, $50,000 should be sufficient in most cases for down payments.

Where the money should be invested will very much depend on the prevailing market cycles and opportunities. However, this will have to change throughout the portfolio management process, which is fundamentally based on your investment philosophy and the changes in your financial statements and life goals.

However, always take into account two things when investing; a well-correlated portfolio and the market cycles. Having all monies in the same asset class at any one time may not be prudent, so, the other area to look out for is the equity market. For more disciplined and market savvy investors, investing your money in stocks can help to double your initial capital.

It’s advisable to put only a small allocation of just 20% of your available funds into carefully chosen stocks. Pick the ones that have good net tangible assets and price-earnings ratios. Study the highest and lowest prices for these stocks over the past one year and discuss what price levels will be prudent for a buy and sell.

Another option to look at is unit trust funds. Choose the fund house based on the umbrella of funds available to you for the purpose of portfolio management. Two factors are important to determine that a fund performs; your investment strategy and who is managing your funds directly and indirectly. However, of course there are risks in unit trust investments too, though less when compared with direct stock investing

On the other hand, the conservative investor should be more patient as he will need more time to grow his money. Conservative investments like fixed deposits, bonds, money market or income-yielding instruments have yields below one’s personal inflation index and thus may not be a meaningful tool for wealth accumulation over the long term.

Choose a well-managed balanced unit trust fund that has a combination of fixed income securities and equities and is dynamically aligned to suit the various events and market cycles over time.

Consider opting for a regular savings plan using the balanced fund as a base to invest, as this will help smooth out the volatility of events and cycles over time. There are many regular savings plans available in unit trust funds but be careful when choosing one. When you invest regularly, you may push the dollar cost upwards or downwards and if the fund you choose is a highly aggressive one, the upward and downward dollar costing exercises may eventually prove to be less effective than investing regularly in a more stable fund like a balanced fund.

Last but not least, you may also want to look out for opportunities in some direct stable and established stocks that provide high dividend yields. These yields will provide a cushion against market and specific risks, which will not worry you too much as a conservative investor. Some unit trust funds have their core holdings only in high dividend-yielding stocks and they may prove to be of good value in your portfolio.