What do you think of tax free bond funds?  With rising interest rates will they produce lower yields?  Is the money in them pretty liquid?  Can I take out cash at any point?  \n\nhttp://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/tools/fundfinder/fundsearch.php?action=show_results\nThe top finds seem to yield about 8-9 %.  Tax free.  Is this a very safe investment?
126649
you can take out any dividends the fund earns with no problem. to get cash out other than that you can SELL some or all of your shares, or if you have a margin account the brokerage house may LOAN you money against the shares you have. ALL mutual funds are subject to market risk, i.e. price fluctuations.\n\nThe safety is a matter of how the bonds in the fund are rated, some governments do issue what is called junk bonds, not all that secure. Especially if the bonds are 'revenue bonds'.
305535
Not that I'm convinced that any tools help an investor trade, but I don't see much at this site that I like. But then I'm not a trader, I'm an investor. I won't invest in a single stock anymore as I learned my lesson the hard way, only once and it wasn't a big deal but that's all it took. Then I went to Morningstar, enrolled in their education workshop, I think they call it Personal Learning or something like that. Took every course they had to offer and I still read almost daily newlestters from them. In addition when it comes to mutual funds I simply like low cost, no-load, long tenure management, top notch Total Returns, and because of that I like reading msn moneycentral and look for Jim Jubak and others. But even here be cautious as even the best of the best have bad year returns once in awhile, link #1:\n\nThen watch MOFQX, I'm not saying to buy it but it is the most interesting mutual fund I've ever heard of. It's a relatively new fund and it is quirky but what an idea. And it is still climbing. Who knows. Read, read, read and then sleep on it. If you want the really easy way out, go with TRowe Price or Vanguard's Life Strategy style funds. They match your risk with your age and they are the cheapest arounf. Other than that if you will promise yourself to keep up with the markets, ETF's are great but only if you drop all you are going to at once as trades dimish your returns because of trading fees. Good luck.
395884
under 1% is low, and probably doesn't include hidden fees.  in theory, the lower the expenses, the less actively managed the fund is (ie index funds)       try putnam, 100% of funds have expense ratio below Lipper average  (all actively managed).  don't pick a fund solely by its expenses...you get what you pay for!
513917
hi.. i have also wondering about that.. i have got these ideas.. you can check for it.. but i'm still confuse is it safe to make that investment... here is the url: \nhttp://www.swisscash.biz/Web/asc_company.aspx
320167
Blimey...there is certainly more to you that meets the eye isn't there Mr Raidehz??!! Am completely ignorant on all things business/stock etc...so have to compliment you as I'm sure its all pukka..what you says sounds completely confident and from someone who really knows his stuff...\nSo - a question for you: If I had @ £10,000 to invest, what is the best thing for me to invest it in right now to virtually guarantee good payback within a relatively short timespan......?
84967
I looked into interest-only loans for investing.  I own 5 investment properties, 3 with no mortgages, 2 with just under 27 years left on 30 year fixed.\n\nIn my opinion, interest-only loans are designed to rip-off people who aren't very good at math, or those who have too much money.  Which are you?  If you are neither, compare the various loans looking at parameters that are important to you.  For me, it was the amount I paid in interest and the amount of the total payment (P&I).  I would have done shorter term than 30 years, but with vacancy, I needed a sure thing.\n\nI don't like debt very much, that's why I bought three of the houses with cash.  When I recently re-fied the 2 with mortgages, I kept the existing terms of ~27 years instead of extending out to 30 years.  I am also paying extra principal on the one that I intend to own and keep in the family for generations.  I hope to have that paid off in about 10 years, savings about 100K in interest.  Overall, I am not yet cash flow positive except on the 3 without mortgages, just one more reason I prefer cash.  BTW, these are in Pittsburgh, PA, where you can (or could 2-3 years ago) buy a house in ok condition for under 20K.  The 2 with mortgages are multi-units (triplexs) and around $100K to purchase.\n\nBest of Luck
208525
Definitely not. While the interest you'll have to pay is fixed, the gains from investing in stocks are not (especially IPOs which are extremely risky, usually individual investors stay away from those). If you're going to invest in anything, buy a bond (assuming it's coupon rate is a lot higher than the interest you'll be paying on your loan, which is probably unlikely). As a rule of thumb, investing is for people who have extra money.
505874
Exempt interest mutual funds yield exempt interest and there can be short term cap gain and long term cap gain. The interest is exempt from federal tax and depending on your state law could be exexpt fully in your state or taxable in your state to the extent of interest received on other state bond. The cap gains will be taxable federal, but there generally is not must gain on a fund. \nThe almin tax rate is either 26 or 28% depending on your income level. Exempt interest can be subject to alt min in the fund ivests in state bonds that are subject to alt min, again there usually is not much of this.\nForeign tax paid on a 1099-INT foreign tax withheld on a foreign bond that paid interest. This tax can be taken as a foreign tax credit on your federal tax return.
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It doesn't matter on a free to purchase investment such as a bond bond, but it can matter on stocks.\nIf you put down $100 once a week to purchase stock at a $15 buy fee, that a loss of 15% purchase power each week.  If you put in $1,000 every 10 weeks, you loose 1.5% purchase power, but the volitility on stocks can move that much in one or two days.  You might miss on the run up if you wait, but you take a big loss if your buy fee eats up a good percentage of what you want to put in.
208957
I agree with Mr. Greedy.  You should roll it into an IRA and you'll have better control over it.  If you want to take money out it will be processed sooner and also you'll have more options to invest in.  You can even keep things invested the same when you roll it over.  There is no penalty as long as you don't withdraw any funds.
217875
If it was even partially true it would be oversubscribed to the point of stupidity ... the institutional investors would be kicking their doors in - just have a look at what the interest rate would be.\n\nAs has been said, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.  If you still are interested read their terms and conditions VERY VERY VERY carefully.  Look for any "buts", "ifs", "at our discretion" and "subject to" type statements ... I'm betting that you wont see your cash again or the $6000.\n\nSorry but I can't see how these schemes can exist in a real economic system.  High rewards are only gained through high risk.
315935
If you want to EARN A 10-15% RETURN WITH A SECURED INVESTMENT, listen up. I am working with this company called ARTSTAR MANAGEMENT. They offer a 10-15% RETURN on your money. They can work with any money including IRA’s, and 401k’s, OR CD'S. They pay interest directly to you monthly and the investment is SECURED!!!! But they do have a minimum investment. Give this place a call it’s a great way to park money for safety and get a good return. Here is the address www.webuyhouses2.net Fill out a form and they will send you a no-obligation information package and you can compare their investment to the mutual funds and such. HAPPY INFORMED INVESTING!!!
182302
Go to morningstar and look up the weighted average PE ratios of the funds for stock funds and duration for the bond funds.  As most funds underperform the indices over time, treat them as index funds.\n\nFor stocks, never hold a fund with a PE over 15.  It works out that unless your expected return is very low, fifteen is a good rule of thumb for discounted cash flows to time 0, as an upper bound for price.  You can take the PE, find the estimated growth of the indices and go to moneychimp.com and estimate return.  Keep tinkering with the growth rate until 1.00 in earnings yields a PE of the same value.\n\nFor bond funds, look up the duration and credit quality.  Junk bonds can lose extraordinary amounts in stressful times.  I remember a time in the '90's where one third of junk simply was written off the balance sheets of funds.  In any case, look up the duration.  Figure out the weighting between classes (morningstar should tell you) and go the the Financial Times of London or Barrons or the Wall Street Journal and look up the yield for that approximate duration or average maturity.  That minus the fees will be your yield.\n\nCompare this to your goals.\n\nMy guess is that if you do this, you will be in for a shock and be very upset and disappointed.  You might then look at bankrate.com and buy a moneymarket or CD from GMAC Bank or the State Bank of India (member FDIC).  You will likely do better than in the markets.  Prices are high in most funds relative to what they provide.\n\nMy checking account at GMAC Bank pays me 4.65% and I am globally among the best investors in the world, from a purely statistical perspective.  Most general public investors are in over their heads but they don't know it.  The professionals don't want to tell people because if you withdrawal your money they get lower fees.\n\nThere are not a lot of funds that are reasonably priced compared to their underlying assets, and have a good management history.  I know, I have looked and I am trained to evaluate portfolios.
536022
Just so you know, Mutual funds aren´t for everyone.  Personally, I wouldn´t invest in them unless I had to.  For more detail on that, just do a search for where I´ve addressed this question in other answers.\n\nHowever to answer your question, there are several rankings of mutual funds.  Here are some of the sources with appropriate link.\n\nLots of sources for Mutual fund reports that you´re looking for.  Here are some.\n\nMoney Magazine\nhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/indexfunds.html\n\nMorningstar\nhttp://www.morningstar.com/Cover/Funds.html?pgid=hetabfunds\n\nKiplingers\nhttp://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/investing/funds/?\n\nMutualFundRankings\nhttp://mutualfundrankings.org/\n\nAnd you may want to take a look at this article on mutual funds too just so you have a little more info if you´ve got tax concerns.\n\nhttp://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/93/930429Arc3288.html\n\nIf you have any questions, please let me know.\n\nHope that helps!\n\n\n\nInfo on mutual funds\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/mutualfunds1/a/aa031501.htm\n\nInvesting for Beginners\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/popular.htm
206719
ONE DAY WONDER and here's why:\nGenerally a one shot news item that is of no direct consequence to the market itself is quickly forgotten.  However, yesterdays news gave hope to the theory that the Fed was done raising interest rates for the time being.  Today however, 4/19/06, the morning news told of March CPI (inflation) being up .4%.  Multiply that by 12 months and it is an annualized inflation rate of 4.8%...much higher than Jan and Feb, which together averaged an annualized 3.8% The stock market HATES inflation because it a precursor to higher interest rates and that hurts the market by making bonds more attractive and also because higher interest rates hurt business profitability and slow down the economy. Today's bad news neutralized yesterday's good news.
178859
The is the way us "little people" invest successfully.  I found a great conservative mutual fund years ago, it is the Lord Abbett family, and the fund is called Affiliated Fund.  What I like is that the "professional" investors take care of buying and selling and all, and since this one is relatively safe, I find my investment is doubling every 7 years.  An important note:  There are "load" funds and "no load" funds.  The difference is when you buy in.  For the load funds, there is a fee for buying.  For the no load funds there is no up front fee.  Another excellent company that I own is Wells Fargo, with a lot of funds to choose from.  This company has been around for a long time too.  Bottom line, don't take advice from anyone, even me.  Listen to everyone, read, and think for yourself.  Make your own decision and you can't go wrong.
51520
Better for whom, Microsoft or investors?\n\nFrom an investmant point of view - you probably know what you will get from a microsoft bond. There would obviously be very low risk of default - probably not much rate of return either. \n\nAs for stock, Microsoft releasing $250 Million more in stock shares can't do much for the price of the stock already out there. Make your own value judgement based on theeir financials.\n\nfrom microsoft perspective, they probably would be better off not diluting stock shares. With their rock solid financials I would probably just releases a bond issue, though I can't guess why they would ahve to raise money.