Finance, Forex and Investments

What is a good way to get started with mutual funds?

I am 17 years old, and I would really like to put like $2500-$3500 into some mutual funds. Dave Ramsey is always talking about funds with 8-12% growth. How do I get started and whats the best way to find these mutual funds? Thanks I know that. What kind of website would this be on or would we go see a broker?

Public Comments

1. You need your parent to open the account and it would be a custodial account. You start with NO LOAD mutual funds that have to buy in or sell management fees. You do research and check the mutual funds previous year returns and what companies they own
2. morningstar.com
3. Mutual funds are long term investments vs. stocks that tend to be more speculative. At to that, that good growth mutual funds grow 8- 12% over the long term as Dave suggests. So.. find a mutual fund family with a good track record of at least 5 to 10 years. Sources to check out mutual funds include Morningstar, and Investors Business Daily (IBD) (www.investors.com) . Develop a relationship with a local financial adviser. Find a local advisor from Waddell & Reed that will sit down face to face with you. Do NOT focus exclusively on No Load, that is such a small factor when you consider that you'll likely hold your investment in that fund for 10 to 50 years. 2 funds to check out are Yacktman funds (YACKX) and Oakmark (OAKMX). Congratuations on getting started so early.