Investment products should not be picked solely upon the basis of rate of return. This is due to the fact that the rate of return is only an averaged value, and does not reflect that returns have a distribution of behaviors. For example, think about a stock that can only show two kinds of behavior. There is a 95/100 chance that it doubles, and then a 5/100 chance that it goes to 0.
The assessment of money market mutual fund rates is most accurate when one has a solid understanding of the underlying money market instrument. The money market is a term for the collection of borrowers and lenders who work with very short term loans, up to 90 days. The interest rates are more favorable for both lender and borrower when compared to loans obtainable at big banks.
Big banks can actually participate by buying up short term securities and profiting off the interest rate. To do so, they offer the same to their customers who put in capital and take a cut of the interest. Usually the bank’s take is large, but still the customer makes more return than having money in a typical savings account.
Unfortunately, financial knowledge remains obscure and theoretical, handed down from mother to daughter or ignored completely. Finance courses during high school are helpful to the greatest number of people , but this has not become widespread yet. The result is that many people make a constant stream of money-related errors. To help such people, there are a class of firms known as personal finance companies.
In the past fifty years, the stock market has outperformed just about every other investment vehicle there is. The yield has on average exceeded 10% year after year, far above returns gained from bonds and money markets. The consistent and strong performance of mutual funds leads many to put the majority of their savings into stock funds. But it is essential to do some homework, for example by identifying the top 100 mutual funds, before pouring money into the unknown.
