What is a mutual fund?

Mutual funds are investments that pool together investor money to buy a selection of stocks, bonds or other assets. Mutual funds can help investors quickly build a diversified portfolio. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us.

Are mutual funds a good investment?

Mutual funds let you pool your money with other investors to purchase stocks, bonds, and other securities. Mutual funds act as a basket of securities you buy all at once, which can be easier than picking and choosing individual investments. Actively managed mutual funds tend to be more expensive than passively managed mutual funds.

What are the different types of mutual funds?

Index funds, bond funds and target date funds are all types of mutual funds. Mutual fund investors don’t directly own the stock or other investments held by the fund, but they do share equally in the profits or losses of the fund’s total holdings — hence the “mutual” in mutual funds. » Learn how to invest in mutual funds