mutual funds?

[Fenvy]

I guess, since I have extra money to load why don't I be a lazy *** and invest in mutual funds? When I suggest that I'm lazy, it means that I don't want to look into the market and other factors that would otherwise affect my investment. I wouldn't mind fork out a few hundred a month but I feel that I need some more information since I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for.

I have visited the website of bank of america, washington mutual, and wells fargo but I want to hear untainted view of someone who has experience in these areas...

[Fish240]

mutual funds are great. Two I have used in the past were Janus Inc, and PBH Growth. Back when I was a kid I use to have a bunch of government bonds. I cashed those in and invested in mutual funds. When th bubble was big during the Clinton admin. I had almost 10 times in what i invested but that went down fast, however I still have more then I have invested and more then if i just stuck with federal bonds.

[Fenvy]

i am not sure what you mean by federal bonds? so your mutual fund investments are limited to federal bonds?

I thought I just have this nerd who assess the market all day and decide what better to do with my money than me?

[DAEDALUS]

You might be thinking of a money manager. A mutual fund has managers too. They manage millions, or even billions of dollars, and buy stocks in companies they think are poised to grow and have their stock prices go up. The funds are traded kind of like stocks. You buy shares in them and if the companies they buy do well, the fund's price goes up and you make money. Not all funds make money. You have to do a bit of research and figure out what kind of fund you want. There are thousands of funds. You can get an index fund that moves with the general market (Dow, NASDAQ, SP500, etc) or specialized funds that stick to a particular industry (tech, mining, energy, financials, etc). Index funds are probably the most common.

My $.02: I think the "market" is priced too high right now. In the short term anything can happen, but long term, things have a way of reverting back to trend.

[MaineExport]

Another consideration before tossing any money into the ring...

What are your goals? I assume you are a younger person with PLENTY of time to plan for the future. Mutual funds are on the "safer" end of the investment spectrum. If you are young and this is TRULY DISPOSABLE income... spend a little time doing research, talk to people you trust, READ READ READ READ READ... maybe consult an investment professional... and you might find it beneficial to take some healthy risks.

BUT... again, it all hinges upon your goals and available funds. And... sticking to one investment strategy isn't the best plan either... you can seriously limit risk with diversification!