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Investment Basics
This
section will introduce you to some key investment and financial planning
concepts that you should consider before you invest. If you come across
a term you’re unfamiliar with, try clicking over to the investment
glossary.
About Mutual
Funds
Who
has the time to study the markets, keep track of individual company news,
and pay attention to the economy day after day after day? If you're a
novice investor, the task of becoming familiar with investment concepts
and jargon is that much harder. And it's the rare investor who has thousands
or even millions of dollars to make a meaningful investment in more than
a few stocks or bonds at a time. For all of these reasons, millions of
investors pool their money into what is called a mutual fund. Stop here
to learn what they are, how they work, and what makes them appealing to
so many people.
Asset Allocation
Do you know what has historically been the single most important factor
in successful investing plans? Surprisingly, most people don’t –
it’s asset allocation. This section provides a broad introduction
to this key financial planning tool and how it can be put to use for you.
Education Planning
Over the past decade, the cost of college tuition has been escalating
at a rate exceeding that of inflation. Over the past 12 years alone, the
average annual increase in the cost of a public university education was
over 6%, while private institution costs increased by more than 7%!*
As a result, investing
— rather than saving — for educational expenses has become a priority
for many families today.
In this library section,
you’ll find a broad overview of planning considerations for educational
investing.
Retirement Planning
More and more people are looking forward to retirement as a challenge
and an opportunity. The challenge is to maintain the lifestyle
to which you've grown accustomed. The opportunity is to try new things,
travel to places you've only dreamt of before, and indulge in the little
luxuries you've earned after a lifetime of hard work.
And, while new tax
legislation has opened up new retirement planning options, it has also
made planning for retirement more complex than ever before. In this section,
you’ll find information that will help you wade through the myriad
of choices now facing you as an investor planning for retirement.
The topics presented
here are merely general discussions of retirement planning and tax issues;
they are very broad in scope, and are intended to serve only as basic
guidelines and to stimulate discussion between you and your tax or legal
advisor. None of the information here is a substitute for the qualified
advice of such a professional.
Tax-Advantaged Investing
Over the years, more and more investors have sought ways to protect
investment earnings from steadily increasing taxes. Today, thanks in part
to 1997’s dramatic tax legislation, tax-sensitive investors have
more options than ever for shielding earnings from taxation. This section
provides an overview of some of these options, as well as information
about tax-advantaged investing in general.
Glossary of Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
Special Topics:
Stock Market Volatility
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