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Mutual Funds
Term category: Mutual Funds
In 10 words or less:  Pooled money that is invested collectively by a fund manager.

Definition: A mutual fund is made up of money that is pooled together by a large number of investors who give their money to a fund manager to invest in a large portfolio of stocks and/or bonds.

StockJargon Advice: Mutual funds are great because they offer regular investors a chance to diversify their portfolios, which is something they may not be able to do on their own. Consider this, if you want to build a diversified portfolio of 30 stocks, you would probably need $30,000 to get started ($1000 per stock...which is usually the norm). Or you could open up an account with a mutual fund for just $1000.

There's about 10,000 mutual funds out there, and they come in all different shapes and sizes. Be sure to check out our mutual fund section!

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A Look Into Mutual Funds
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Load vs. No-load
Unsure of what mutual fund loads are? We'll explain them and tell you why no-load funds are better...

Related Books

Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds by Christine Benz
Morningstar Funds 500 By Morningstar Analysts
Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John Bogle
Mutual Funds for Dummies by Eric Tyson

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