Whether you shop around to fund an employee pension or simply want to start your own retirement saving you soon find there are hundreds of mutual fund families to select. When you shop for mutual funds, it's most convenient to stick with one or two fund families. The key is to compare the stock funds with other stock fund families and the bond funds with other bond fund families. You need a broad spectrum to adequately balance your portfolio.

Look for specialty funds within the fund families. When you compare fund families, if all things are equal, select the fund family that has the most specialty funds. These are the dessert of the mutual fund meal. They enhance the return but never should be the main course.

1. Compare mutual fund families by looking at the 10-year history.
2. Find a stock fund family that has large, mid and small cap funds.
3. Look for a bond fund family that has long-term, short-term bonds, government and high yield bonds.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look at a list of mutual fund families

There are several online sources for these lists. Hunt down the lists of mutual funds and also find those that are top performers.

I recommend: InvestorGuide.com names all the funds on the market. Find the top performing funds and their track record at Morningstar. The site also has the history of all funds within each fund family.

Find the bond fund family that averages at least 6 percent

Don't settle for a return less than 6 percent for a composite of bond mutual funds. Use the ten-year average as your guide. If you are in a high tax bracket consider tax-free municipals for those funds outside of retirement plans. High yield bond mutual funds returns fluctuate considerably and frequently rise during economic improvement, much like stock. Use them sparingly.

I recommend: Oppenheimer Funds has a great selection of bond funds, particularly high yield tax-free municipals. Fidelity Funds rank right with them for top performers in a broad spectrum of bonds.

Select a stock fund family with an 8 to 10 percent average

Stock funds operate differently than bond funds. They tend to give higher returns but also have a higher market fluctuation. When you look at the various stock mutual fund families make certain there are both value and growth stock in large mid and small cap sizes.

I recommend: A broad-spectrum family that consistently returns is the American Funds. These funds use traditional investment methods that create a less volatile fund. The JPMorgan Funds are another group that stays with tried and true methods.

Find mutual funds with mixed assets

Today many mutual fund companies create asset mix funds that differ from balanced funds which contain blends of stocks and bonds. The mixed assets are mutual funds from their own company or other companies.

I recommend: Franklin Templeton Founding Fund has consistently returned high yields and reduced the volatility with the mix. It eliminates a lot of the investors work by providing management over a combination of three funds. A company with that mixes assets based on age to retirement is The Hartford.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you only have a small amount to invest, use the mixed assets.
• •  Try to stay with one mutual fund family to exchange funds to fit market conditions for free and get a reduced front-end load (investment fee). If you have more than $250,000 of assets to invest, use two fund families.