For Beginners
The Beginners Guide to Investing
What Are Mutual Funds?
The Definition of Mutual Funds
The Mutual Fund Basics
Mutual Fund Investing
How Do Mutual Funds Work?
Mutual Fund Investing For Dummies ... And Everyone Else
How To Compare Mutual Funds
Research and Analysis
Rating Mutual Funds
Mutual Fund Research
The Various Types of Mutual Funds
Bond Funds
The Best Bond Funds
Municipal Bond Funds
Stock Funds
No-Load and Index Funds
Index Mutual Funds
The Best Index Funds
Investor Info
Smart Investing
Mutual Fund Investment Advice
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Mutual Fund Research
This site's goal is to teach you how to do your own mutual fund research and find the best mutual funds on the market.
It helps to know where to start your research (besides this website). This page will show you exactly how to find the best funds.
Wouldn't you prefer to save time by reading only the useful information?
Having a few valuable resources will save you a lot of research time. You need to know where to look to find the answers you need.
The "invest now, ask questions later" approach is the easiest mistake you can make. Most importantly, you don't want to make financial decisions with the wrong information.
You can save time and money by using this page to jump start your mutual fund research.
Starting Your Research
First, it is very important that you have your own investment plan before you start any mutual fund research. This will save a lot of time.If you don't know much about investing or mutual funds, I encourage you to read both the Beginner's Guide To Investing In Mutual Funds and the Mutual Fund Basics before doing any research. Those two articles will teach you the minimum you need to get started with mutual funds and put you on the path to success.
If you already have an investment plan, great!
Give yourself a pat on the back. Most investors start to research mutual funds and throw money into them right away.
That is a huge mistake.
Even if you know all about mutual funds, it should only take you 15 minutes to put together your investment plan.
We're going to start completely from scratch. Here is a checklist for everything you will need to get started with your mutual fund research:
- Your investment plan.
- Notebook and pencil.
- Most recent statement for your mutual funds (if you own any).
- A computer with an internet connection.
- Your thinking cap.
Once you have each of these items, you are ready to start. It's time to separate the good funds from the bad funds.
Mutual Fund Information Resources
So, where do we start?The internet is an excellent place to do your research, but it is important to have reliable information. There are a few website that I use and highly recommend.
These websites are resources that professional investors, mutual fund companies, and financial advisors use to make their investment decisions.
The Wall Street Journal has the best financial market news, and still provides some of the most influential market reporting. The Journal has provided the most comprehensive market perspective since the early 1900's. The newspaper has also made a flawless transition to the internet; WSJ.com has been around for a long time.
Investopedia is exactly what it sounds like, the investment encyclopedia. This site is the go-to place to find a definition on any statistic or financial term. If you aren't sure about how something works, investopedia.com< can usually answer it.
Morningstar is for the serious investor. There is no substitute for Morningstar's up-to date fund information and the best market analysis. Analysis is important to have when you are faced with difficult decisions.
Morningstar has a simple, effective 5-star rating system. Their rating system is well respected and used by every major fund company in the industry. Just like Great-Mutual-Funds.com, they also give you new fund suggestions all the time.
These websites will give you mutual fund analysis from different professionals in the mutual fund industry. It's always good to get different perspectives on investing.
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