What are some good mutual funds to invest in?

I was thinking of getting a fund for around 1000 to 2000 dollars. whats a good low risk fund? and about how much will it make me over time?
thank you

Great question. Since I don鈥檛 know much about your financial needs, your age, income, or financial goals, please allow me to offer some general information.

With over 11,000 mutual funds in the marketplace it can be a bit overwhelming finding one that will provide you with the type of safety and return for which you鈥檙e looking. But the fact that you are looking is a very good first step.

That said, I鈥檓 sure many will offer some decent funds (as I am sure you have noticed), however for the amount you are willing to invest, you want to make sure ALL of your money is working for you without having to pay a fee to get in or out of the fund.

Something to consider when making your selection is first know why you are investing. In other words, what are your goals for the money you want to invest? Are your goals long or short term? If short term (less than a year), consider money market funds, if longer than a 2-5 year period, then perhaps you can handle more risk than you think. Either way, answering these questions will help with your ability to invest and sleep at night.

Next, as I mentioned above, avoid any fund that requires you to pay a fee (a.k.a. load) to get in or out. I鈥檓 not 鈥渄issing鈥?these funds, it鈥檚 just that you are not really starting with enough money to justify paying a front-end or back-end load irrespective of the fund鈥檚 past performance. Therefore, limit your search to "no-load" funds.

When looking at performance, keep in mind you鈥檙e looking at 鈥減ast鈥?performance and anyone in the business will or should tell you that past performance is not indicative of future results. A fund can be hot one year, a total dog the next, and then hot again, but who can predict this - no one! So you want to be careful when focusing or considering a purchase based upon future performance.

Seek out funds that have been around for at least 10 years or more. These funds have a track record that covers both up and down markets and can give you a pretty good idea of their overall performance. Again the past is not representative of the future, but you want fund companies that have weathered a few market storms.

And my last two points; seek diversification across the market, such as index funds. Index funds almost take the fund manager out of the picture, for index funds are designed to track "market performance" (i.e. S & P 500 Index). The managers buy and sell stocks that make up the S & P Index - that's it. Finally, look for fund companies that are cheap with respect to their internal fees and turnover ratios (again index funds). Vanguard (among others) is one fund companies known for it鈥檚 cheap fees. Good luck.

For low risk, maybe a good balanced fund, that has roughly equal investments in secure investments like gov't bonds, and higher growth investments, like stocks.

On average, you'd probably make 6% to 8% per year. There could be losses in the short term, but in a balanced fund, the losses would be low.

Go to a low cost mutual fund house like Vanguard, Fidelity or T. Rowe Price and look under balanced funds.

FAIRX
Notice how it did well, even during the last recession. The attached graph compares it to the main indices - DOW , SP500 and Nasdaq.
While the indices were down from 30 to 70%, FAIRX was up 25% at the worst of the recession in early 2003, and did remarkably well during the internet bubble pop too.

I suggest the Vice Fund (NASDAQ:VICEX)

They have never lost money (They started in 2003)

Their worst year was 6.41%
Their best year was 34.33%

I am a Portfolio Manager with over a decade of experience in the Stock Markets.

I have to hand it to Frank Castle. He gave you a fund that never lost money because it has never been through a bear market. Almost every fund has made money every year since 2003. If we do go into a bear market, there are almost no funds that will not loose money other than money market funds and even they are not completely immune.

Almost every good fund has a minimum investment of $2500. Almost all but not quite.

PENNX is a good fund with a minimum of $2000. It may not be what you are looking for though. It is not low risk, but the risk is less than with about 80%. Here is the link. Note particularly only 3 down years since 1988. Also note the 3, 5, and 10 year annual returns.

http://www.roycefunds.com/funds/fundInfo...

This next fund has less risk and a much lower minimum investment, only $250. But it suffers one drawback. It has a front end load of 5.75%. But its record is top notch.

http://www.americanfunds.com/funds/detai...

This fund has also had a couple of down years during the past. The worst year in recent memory was 2002. It was down 4.4%.