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Guide to Investing Extra Business Cash in Mutual Funds
Find great ways to diversify your investments- Determine what types of companies you prefer
- Do your research
- Monitor your investments' performance
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Assess your goals
First determine how much money you can invest. Remember, this money should not be touched for at least five years. Financial advisors say if you have less time than that, you shouldn't be in the market.
I recommend:
To help you get started exploring mutual funds, check out the mutual fund sections in The Motley Fool, SmartMoney and Better Investing. Also check out this Merrill Lynch's primer, Investing Corporate Cash.
Research, research, research
Once you know what type of mutual fund suits your investment goals and philosophy, the hard part comes – choosing among the cornucopia of options. Every mutual fund has a prospectus, which won't be very entertaining, but very informative. It will spell out the fund's investment policies and objectives, risks, costs, historical performance data and more.
I recommend:
To look at what some of the biggest players in the industry offer, review the fund offerings of Fidelity Investments, Schwab and T. Rowe Price.
Monitor your investment
You have a business to run so it's not feasible to surf the Internet every couple of hours to see how your investment is doing. That's probably not ideal for anyone. But you also don't want to make your investment and leave everything to Lady Luck.
I recommend:
There are a number of places to help you monitor performance, such as Morningstar.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide- Mutual funds give you diversity. If you put your money in only a handful of stocks your fortune would be tied to just a few companies. But with mutual funds, $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000, will give you a lot of diversification. Mutual funds spread your risk, which is key to any investment strategy.
- Be sure you know the tax consequences of any investment. If you hold your fund in a taxable account, for example, you will have to pay capital gains taxes.
