Invest? Are You Serious?

While some people have decided to sit the market out altogether, there are others who are ready to dip their toes in the water and cautiously invest again or for the first time. Even in light of the current economic ____ (input the latest buzzword for tragedy here), I’ve been a proponent of investing wisely. The market goes through cycles and it will rebound again. That said… we have to be realistic, we have to do more research than ever on the companies we invest our money in. Long gone are the days of blindly following your investment advisor.

Start with a Mutual Fund

A mutual fund with a solid track record….yes… I hear you snickering… hey… I’m snickering too! Look for a mutual with returns in the 8-12% range over the long term meaning 10 – 12 years.  Make sure the fund manager didn’t just get there either, you want them to have at least 5 – 10+ years with the fund.

It is also wise to pick a mutual fund that is comprised of industries that are not dependent on one another.  For example, a real estate company and a home building company both suffer when there are hits to the industry. If both are in your mutual fund you will take a bigger loss.

Do Your Homework

Where to start your research? Google It!  Learn about the fund and the companies it holds. Search for each company in the mutual fund portfolio.  Find out what kind of media attention they are receiving, good or bad. What are other investors saying about them? Have they had a recent change in leadership? Go to their websites and download their annual reports, read their notes, look at the financials.

Of course, you want to know how the fund is performing.There are a ton of sites that allow you to do financial research. Morningstar.com is a leader in the industry, and you can view some of the content for free. Google, Yahoo, AOL, along with many others, all have finance sites where you can input stock/mutual fund symbols and it will kick out company information.  What are the experts saying about this fund and the companies it holds?

Below is a screenshot from CNNMoney.com for:  CAAPX – Ariel Appreciation Fund

If you scroll down, you will see more information on the performance, industries represented in the fund, names of top 10 companies and so on…

p.s. - No affiliation with Ariel, just used it as an example people.... happy investing!

Your Financial Coach,

Dorethia
www.connercoaching.com