very encyclopedic. i love reading them, reminds me of my goals

There are many ways to invest: mutual funds, stocks, bonds, UITF, long-term healthcare, investment in insurance, savings & time deposits, real estate, etc. You name it, & someone will sell it to you.
Be careful. When you get into the area of more “sophisticated” investment, you may need some advice & direction in order to make good investment choices. There are basic rules you must consider.
Rule #1: If your investment goes into “loanership investments” (savings, time deposits, cash values), your return will be low (1-4%).
Rule #2: If your investment go into “ownership investments” (mutual funds, stocks, equities), your return may be as high as 12% or more. There are no guarantees. If you want to maximize your return on investment, you have to accept some risk.

If you invest directly in stock market,
-You need to gain extensive knowledge in the stock market. You need the time & expertise to select, combine & monitor the stocks in your portfolio.
- Know how to analyze which stocks are “good” & which are “bad.”
Do you have capability & resources to get the right information before it makes the news? If you get your news from other people or newspaper… you may “buy” or “sale” too late.
Managing a stock portfolio is a complex process that is best left to professional fund managers… Utilize a concept of investment that provides professional money management, an investment concept called mutual funds.

• Mutual funds are among the most popular financial planning vehicles in the USA. More than 80% of Americans own mutual funds. There are more than 7,300 mutual funds today with a total net asset of more than $7 trillion.
• Mutual funds industry in the Philippines is still very small. Very few Filipinos own mutual funds. There are only about 30 mutual funds in the Phils.

Mutual fund is an investment company that combines money from individuals & invests in a diversified portfolio of securities.
Each investor is a shareholder who buys shares of the fund.
Each share represents a proportion of ownership in the fund’s assets.

Because hundreds of its shareholders have chosen to pool their money in a given mutual fund, the fund can easily diversify its investments among the stocks & bonds of many companies.

MUTUAL FUNDS ARE USUALLY CLASSIFIED INTO:
1. BOND FUND - funds that invest in government securities.
2. STOCKS/EQUITY - funds that invest in a variety of stocks & equities. Aggressive in capital growth –deals with equity investments that are generally blue chips or growth stocks listed & traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
3. BALANCED - combines profitability of equity investments & the stability of fixed-income instruments.
MUTUAL FUNDS PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
1. PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT - the most important advantage!
• Mutual funds take the stress away from small investors who want to invest in the financial markets. This is because the mutual funds are handled by competent professional fund managers who choose the right investment for them. Investing directly in the stock market is risky.
• The sales charge (entry fee) you’ll pay when you first invest is a small price for the security of having team of professionals actively & constantly monitoring the stocks & make the investment decisions.

2. ACCESSIBLE & AFFORDABLE… Easy to buy… Offer wide variety of services to meet shareholders’ need — variety of investment minimums allowing participation at affordable amount.
3. LIQUIDITY… Your money is always available. No need to find a buyer. The fund is always ready to buy back its shares from you. Mutual fund shares can be redeemed and collected within 7 days at the prevailing Net Asset Value per Share (NAVPS).
4. NET OF TAX… Harness the power of tax advantages!
5. DIVERSIFICATION… To help reduce the risks inherent in any investment, a mutual fund carefully selects a diversified portfolio. A diversified investment portfolio that contains a number of different types of investments tends to have a lower level of risk than a portfolio with more similar types of investments.
6. ASSET ALLOCATION… The process of developing a diversified portfolio by mixing different asset classes –such as stocks, bonds, & cash equivalents –in varying proportions to help reduce risk & maximize potential return.
7. MONEY COST AVERAGING… Money cost averaging advocates the investment of a constant money amount, regardless of the price of the investment. Over a period of time, this generally results in a lower purchase price per investment than if the total purchase was made at one time.

Tyrone, just replied to you on my site. Doing a contest and would like your prediction for TODAY’s market!

Cheers,

Sam-urai

*(I’m hoping to quit my day job as soon as my monthly online income matches my monthly salary).