By Nancy Zambell | December 11, 2020

Do you know if you might already have mutual funds in your portfolio? Chances are, you do—especially if you have a 401(k) retirement account.

And what about Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)? Are you investing with any ETFs?

ETFs and mutual funds have a place in almost every investor’s portfolio. Unfortunately, many investors don’t understand all the ins and outs of these investment strategies, and often get stuck with funds and ETFs that are underperforming, too expensive, too risky, or just aren’t appropriate for their particular investment goals and risk profile.

And many investors suffer the fate of simply ignoring funds already included in their 401(k) accounts—now is the time to pay attention and learn all about mutual funds and ETFs.

Read the feature article in this month’s magazine now to remove any confusion about these two types of investing vehicles—and to ensure that mutual funds and ETFs are delivering maximum profits for you.

First, when you read this article in the January 2021 issue of our Magazine, you get the background and explanation of mutual funds and descriptions of all the different types, including:

• What are mutual funds?: Get a clear explanation of what, exactly, mutual funds are—and get a brief background and history of these popular investment types. Discover what makes mutual funds so appealing to investors, and get it all when you read this article now.
• Equity funds: Find out about the most popular type of mutual funds, and get six categories of equity funds explained—in this article now.
• Bond funds: Get the scoop on why bond funds are favored by conservative investors; plus, four different varieties for you to consider—read this article now!
• Balanced funds: These funds are often a combination of different investment types. Find out why they are called “balanced”—when you read this now.
• Foreign funds: Specific advice about four different types of investments in companies outside the U.S., when you read this article today.
• Money market funds: Are money market funds relatively safe? Get the answer now—and watch out for this fraud potential!
• Alternative funds: Find out what types of non-traditional investments are typical for alt funds.
• Target-date funds: How do target-date funds work to diversify your investments? Are these funds costlier and riskier than most others? Get answers now.
• Lifestyle funds: Get the difference, fully explained, between lifestyle funds and target-date funds—even though they are seemingly so similar.

Next, you’ll learn what to do about mutual funds—that is, how to evaluate and find good funds, including:

• Evaluating mutual fund performance: How should you evaluate mutual fund performance? Is it best to review annual numbers or cumulative figures? What is the best source for evaluating mutual fund performance, adjusting for risk and accounting for sales charges? Get all the answers now in this article!
• Costs and expenses of mutual funds: Learn all about loads, expense ratios, 12b-1 fees, tax implications, and turnover—key factors in helping you accurately evaluate mutual fund performance in your portfolio.
• Finding worthy mutual funds for your portfolio: Get specific resources for helping you find mutual funds that match your investing philosophy, along with five key guiding principles for choosing the right mutual funds.

And you’ll also get up-to-speed about ETFs in this article, including:

• What are ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds)?: Get a plain-language explanation of ETFs, along with some history and growth patterns. Plus, you get the three significant differences between ETFs and mutual funds fully explained.
• Broad-based (index funds): Find out about these funds and how they work, including specific comparisons to the S&P 500.
• Sector funds: Get specific recommendations on two of the best-performing ETF sectors right now.
• International funds: Which region of the world has the hottest ETFs right now? Get the answer, along with two funds for you to consider.
• Resources for finding great ETFs: In this article, you get specific resource recommendations for your ETF research and the top five online brokers for ETF investing (and the five best brokers for mutual funds, too!).

In this article in the January 2021 issue of our Magazine, you’ll learn all about mutual funds and ETFs. Read this article now, and get everything else in this issue of our magazine, too, including:

• Mutual Funds & ETF Investing Secrets: Learn all the ways to get the most from your mutual funds and ETFs, to ensure you make big profits.
• 4 Stocks and ETFs to Buy in the Red-Hot Cloud Computing Sector: Cloud computing has been a profitable sector for investors, and these four stocks are leading the pack. Check them out now.
• 3 Vaccine Stocks to Buy … and 3 to Avoid: Should you invest in COVID vaccine stocks? Here is some guidance about what to do.
• 2 Dividend Stocks for a Post-Vaccine Era: With vaccines on the horizon, here are two perfect vaccine-era dividend stocks for you to consider. Read about them now.
• This Little-Known Biotech is Bucking the Recent Growth Stock Sell-Off: As growth stocks fall flat, there are encouraging signs of a turnaround—and this stock has already broken out. Find out about this stock now.
• 6 Tips for Becoming a Successful Investor… and Golfer: Interest in one of the few naturally socially distant sports is up. And a couple of golf stocks are rising, too.
• Breaking Down the 9 Publicly Traded Electric Vehicle Companies: Nine electric vehicle stocks for your review—and maybe make some room in your portfolio for some of them.
• Should You Invest in Pfizer or BioNTech as a Vaccine Play?: After their joint coronavirus vaccine trail got encouragingly high marks, what’s the better investment? Get the answer now.
• 2 Small-Cap Stocks for the Coming Pandemic Recovery: Now that a vaccine is getting closer, we can begin to look toward a post-pandemic world. Start with these two small-cap growth stocks now!
• Here’s What the Top Investment Management Firms are Buying: Three things to look for when watching what top investment management firms are doing—and the stocks they are currently buying.
• “How I made Big Money in Peloton Stock”: Thanks to the pandemic, Jacob Mintz made his biggest options trade of all time. Find out how he did it when you read this article now.

This latest issue of the Federation’s Magazine is ready for you to access now, to discover how to make mutual funds and ETFs part of your investing strategy … and so much more. Read it now!

Start reading all the articles in this issue of our Magazine today!