If you are a baby boomer, time is not on your side. Many baby boomers see retirement age fast approaching with little to nothing in the way of retirement assets that will allow them to actually retire and live a comfortable lifestyle. With the benefit of time in short supply, substantial investment performance in a shorter than normal time frame becomes strikingly important. Mutual Fund Advice A case could be made that a special type of mututal fund, an index mutual fund, in conjunction with careful market trend analysis (not predictive market timing) could be used to achieve higher returns faster than a standard mutual fund. As to the specific type of index fund to consider using, investors would do well to "keep it simple" and use an index fund that tracks well known indexes like the S&P 500, Nasdaq100, and Wilshire 2000. Index funds that track any of the major indexes are just taking advantage of the concept of diversification. The only remaining risk is whether the entire market goes up or goes down and one can switch to a fund that is designed to profit from a down market when such action is called for. There are very few active investment managers that outperform index funds or exchange traded funds over a five year or greater period. This is why an index fund is recommended in the case of baby boomer-aged investors who need stellar performance over shorter time frames. Mutual Fund Selection Mutual Fund Action plan Mutual Fund Research Mutual Fund Investment tools --- |
