Mutual Fund Recommendations From Money Magazine

Many of my Soldiers have been asking me about which mutual funds they should invest in. They have been bitten by the investing/retirement bug, but they are somewhat at a loss of where to start. That’s understandable. There are a lot of things to consider when looking for a good mutual fund such as great long-term performance returns, low expenses, usually no-loads, excellent managers that have run the funds for decades, a consistant investment strategy, and highly ethical. I absolutely hate giving specific advice about which mutual funds to invest in and which ones I am currently putting my money into. I don’t want to do the leg work for anyone. You should feel comfortable in your mutual funds and your investing decisions. You should know where you are entrusting your money and why you are investing in them in the first place. Even though I will not be specific, I can point you to some resources that I use to help me make my investing decisions.

Money Magazine recommends a list of 70 mutual funds every year. The list is spread across a broad asset allocation and is not about aiming for just the highest short-term returns. Money Magazine’s choices offer a well-balanced portfolio that will help you reach your most important financial goals, like saving for your children’s college education, starting a business, or saving for your retirement. You do not have to own all 70 mutual funds by any stretch of the imagination, but you should strive to own at least one large cap, med cap, small cap, and international mutual fund. (We will talk more about asset allocation in a future blog posting soon.)

Money Magazine focuses on certain criteria when selecting mutual funds such as low expenses, a strong record for putting share-holder interests first, a consistent investment strategy, and experienced managers.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/2008/actively.html

Ticker	Fund name	1-yr return	3-yr return	5-yr return	Exp. ratio	Min. inv.	Style

LARGE-CAP
AMCPX	American Funds Amcap A	-12.0%	1.8%	5.4%	0.7%	$250	Growth
AMRMX	American Funds American Mutual A	-10.9%	3.6%	7.0%	0.6%	$250	Value
FMIHX	FMI Large Cap	-3.2%	6.8%	10.7%	1.0%	$1,000	Blend
JENSX	Jensen J	-1.7%	5.0%	5.8%	0.8%	$2,500	Growth
MAVFX	Matrix Advisors Value	N/A%	N/A%	N/A%	1.0%	$1,000	Blend
SLASX	Selected American Shares S	-12.2%	2.9%	7.8%	0.9%	$1,000	Blend
SSHFX	Sound Shore	-3.0%	5.8%	9.7%	0.9%	$10,000	Value
TRBCX	T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth	-5.8%	4.6%	6.9%	0.8%	$2,500	Growth
PRFDX	T. Rowe Price Equity Income	-12.7%	2.7%	7.5%	0.7%	$2,500	Value
VWNFX	Vanguard Windsor II	-16.2%	1.6%	8.2%	0.3%	$10,000	Value

MIDCAP
FAMVX	FAM Value Inv	-11.4%	0.3%	5.9%	1.2%	$500	Blend
FPPFX	FPA Perennial	-5.5%	3.8%	8.4%	1.0%	$1,500	Blend
FAIRX	Fairholme	3.3%	10.4%	15.8%	1.0%	$2,500	Blend
FDVLX	Fidelity Value	-13.6%	3.1%	10.3%	0.7%	$2,500	Value
JMCVX	Janus Mid Cap Value Investor	-0.5%	7.7%	12.7%	0.8%	$2,500	Value
MERDX	Meridian Growth	-4.2%	6.0%	8.6%	0.8%	$1,000	Growth
POAGX	PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressive Growth	-13.8%	5.5%	N/A%	0.8%	$2,000	Growth

SMALL-CAP
BRSVX	Bridgeway Small-Cap Value N	-8.1%	4.2%	N/A%	0.9%	$2,000	Value
PENNX	Royce Pennsylvania Mutual Invt	-4.1%	6.8%	11.9%	0.9%	$2,000	Blend
RYVPX	Royce Value Plus Svc	-8.9%	8.9%	15.9%	1.3%	$2,000	Growth
PRNHX	T. Rowe Price New Horizons	-7.6%	3.2%	9.3%	0.8%	$2,500	Growth

MULTI-CAP
BRAIX	Bridgeway Aggressive Investors 2	-0.4%	7.5%	12.5%	1.2%	$2,000
MUHLX	Muhlenkamp	-20.6%	-7.3%	4.3%	1.1%	$1,500
WEHIX	Weitz Hickory	-23.1%	-4.2%	4.8%	1.2%	$2,500

SPECIALTY
CSRSX	Cohen & Steers Realty Shares	-9.1%	5.2%	15.0%	0.9%	$10,000	Real estate
PRNEX	T. Rowe Price New Era	13.7%	18.5%	25.1%	0.6%	$2,500	Natural resources
TAREX	Third Avenue Real Estate Value	-18.3%	0.9%	10.7%	1.1%	$10,000	Real Estate

FOREIGN
AEPGX	American Funds EuroPacific Gr A	-5.3%	10.2%	15.3%	0.7%	$250	Large Blend
NEWFX	American Funds New World A	6.0%	18.2%	21.4%	1.0%	$250	Large Growth
ARTIX	Artisan International Inv	-8.0%	9.1%	13.3%	1.2%	$1,000	Large Growth
DODFX	Dodge & Cox International Stock	-10.6%	9.1%	17.5%	0.7%	$2,500	Large Value
OAKIX	Oakmark International I	-19.8%	3.8%	11.2%	1.1%	$1,000	Large Value
PRMSX	T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock	-1.2%	18.2%	24.9%	1.2%	$2,500	Emerging markets
PRIDX	T. Rowe Price International Discovery	-12.3%	10.4%	18.4%	1.2%	$2,500	Small-cap, Midcap
TAVIX	Third Avenue International Value	-11.1%	4.5%	15.0%	1.4%	$10,000	Value
VWIGX	Vanguard International Growth	-9.2%	9.0%	13.6%	0.5%	$3,000	Large Blend

CORE BOND
DODIX	Dodge & Cox Income	3.2%	3.5%	3.8%	0.4%	$2,500	Core
FPNIX	FPA New Income	5.2%	4.9%	4.2%	0.6%	$1,500	Core
HABDX	Harbor Bond Instl	7.9%	4.8%	5.0%	0.6%	$1,000	Core
VIPSX	Vanguard Inflation-Protected Secs	12.5%	6.1%	6.4%	0.2%	$3,000	Core

SPECIALTY BOND
AHITX	American Funds American Hi Inc Tr A	-0.6%	3.7%	6.9%	0.7%	$250	Specialty
RPIBX	T. Rowe Price International Bond	8.2%	5.2%	6.7%	0.8%	$2,500	N/A
VWITX	Vanguard Interm-Term Tax-Ex	6.0%	3.6%	3.8%	0.1%	$3,000	Specialty
Data as of: August 19, 2008