Mutual Funds Alternatives - Better Gains and Lower Risk With This Investment

While many investors see mutual funds as a good long term investment, there is a better investment that not only has higher returns, but lower downside volatility.

What is the investment? It may surprise you.

It’s UK land, with an average growth of 920% over 20 years and keep in mind this is just the average careful land plot selection has yielded far higher gains and downside volatility is low and gains compare very favourably to mutual funds.

Investments start at just $10,000 and there are plenty of specialist companies to help investors every step of the way, to big capital gains.

More international investors than ever before are looking at land as a solid investment alterative to traditional unit trusts and mutual funds for long term capital gains and the outlook for the future is bright.

UK land prices boom

The factors driving the boom are a rapidly expanding population and a huge shortage of affordable homes.

Land is needed to build new homes on and investors, who buy plots that have a good chance of being developed, can make a huge capital gain if planning permission is granted.

They can then sell and bank their profit.

Location is the key

While the growth in average UK land is impressive, the way to make really big gains is to buy land that has a good chance of being granted planning permission.

Investors who have been able to do this have made gains of up to 400% in just 4 years and all this with low downside risk, which is much better than the bulk of mutual funds.

The downside

Of course, there is no certainty that the land bought will be granted planning permission, but downside is limited, as land tends to rise in value longer term anyway and many developers offer buyback options so investors can liquidate funds quickly.

Big gains and low risk

Great long term growth, low risk, low minimum investments, specialist advice and liquidity all add up to an outstanding investment opportunity.

All investors want low risk and big gains, but it’s a hard combination to find, however land is a proven solid long term investment and looks set to remain so for the foreseeable future, representing a viable alternative to mutual funds

As an investment in its own right, or one that is part of a diversified portfolio land can give you above average profit potential with low downside risk and the UK offers a great location to buy land.

Check out investing in land and you will see the attraction over traditional investments such as property and mutual funds:

Great long term growth, low risk, low minimum investments, specialist advice and liquidity all add up to an outstanding investment opportunity.

For more info on investing in land

Including a free land infopack that tells you everything you need to know about this outstanding opportunity, Visit:

http://www.lpgroupinternational.com

Pros and Cons of Structured Settlement Mutual Funds

How often do you find yourself saying: "I wish I knew how to learn more about structured settlement mutual funds"

Well, this article about structured settlement mutual funds was written with you in mind. Enjoy.

Among the options open to you if you've received a structured settlement from a lawsuit or arbitration is what's known as structured settlement mutual funds. You should take some time before you choose an investment vehicle for your settlement money and learn the pros and cons of the mutual fund option.

Always keeping your long-term financial security in mind, structured settlement mutual funds offer advantages and disadvantages when compared to other investing options.

When you are awarded a structured settlement, an insurance company sets up an annuity in order to pay you small portions of the money at regular intervals. The safest option is to keep the money"in house" and get a guaranteed scheduled payment that will never change. The downside to going this super-safe route is that your money will not grow (much, if at all).

With structured settlement mutual funds, however, the money is invested in one or more mutual funds. Mutual funds are groups of individual equities (stocks), the make-up of which is closely managed in an effort to maximize returns. The individual stocks in any mutual fund can change regularly.

This introduces an element of risk - sometimes significant risk. So, if you have your structured settlement money in a structured settlement mutual funds set-up, you have the potential for higher rates of return, but you also incur more risk that you'll lose some of your money.

In most structured settlements, the annuity that is set up is guaranteed. You are assured of getting the same amount, month in and month out, until the settlement money runs out. It's a good option for those seeking to avoid any risk.

As you've read until now, structured settlement mutual funds is a subject that needs knowledge and effort to work around. And the information in this article was gathered from several resources.

There are some more gems of wisdom in what follows - keep reading.

Structured settlement mutual funds are not guaranteed. The upside is the potential for earning more if the mutual fund's value increases. It's like getting a raise, but it isn't a sure thing.

From a tax standpoint, income you receive from a fixed annuity is tax-free (in most cases). However, structured settlement mutual funds are subject to capital gains taxes and the possibility of some income taxation. Keep in mind that if your mutual fund loses money, the losses can be written off of your tax bill (under most circumstances), so it's not all bad if things don't go well.

Choosing a standard structured settlement fixed annuity means you are locked into a set payment amount and schedule. If your needs change down the road, this may cause you some financial hardships. With structured settlement mutual funds, you are allowed to move money around (within certain strict limits) from fund to fund. This will allow you to adapt to changes more readily.

As should be clear by now, this is not an easy decision. There are many pros and cons, whether you choose structured settlement mutual funds, the fixed annuity option, or any other alternative. This is one reason why it's a smart move to enlist the services of a competent lawyer who specializes in this area of the law. It's also wise to educate yourself as thoroughly as possible before making the final decision.

The day will come when you can use something you read here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about structured settlement mutual funds.

Ken Austin is the webmaster at Structured Settlement Tips and Structured Settlements and Annuities.

A Guide to Mutual Funds

If you've been thinking about getting into investment but aren't sure what you should invest in, you might want to consider looking into investments in mutual funds. These funds are designed to provide a diverse investment opportunity for the shareholders who have purchased shares in the fund. They can be used as an easy way to create a diverse investment portfolio, or they can be used to accent your own portfolio with securities that have been chosen by the creator of the mutual fund.

The information below is designed to help you decide whether mutual funds are right for you, and includes more details of what mutual funds are, what sets them apart from other types of investments, and how to find the mutual funds that will best accent your investment style.

Defining Mutual Funds

Before you can decide whether or not to invest in mutual funds, you need to know exactly what mutual funds are. These funds are a type of security that is traded on the stock market, enabling shareholders to purchase and sell shares in the funds as they choose. The money that is raised by the purchasing of shares by shareholders is utilized by the investment company that created the firm to purchase more shares of certain stocks, bonds, and other market securities and money market instruments.

As the value of the stocks, bonds, and other securities contained within the mutual fund rise and fall, the value of the fund itself fluctuates… the average value of each share of the mutual fund is determined each day as an average of the total value of all of the securities that are contained within the fund.

Because of this, shareholders who own part of a mutual fund are more directly involved with their investment than those who simply own individual securities and watch as they rise and fall.

Important Attributes of Mutual Funds

As was mentioned above, mutual funds are created by investment companies to purchase shares in various stocks and other securities. What this means for the mutual fund investor is that in addition to their ownership of shares of the mutual fund, they also have a limited claim of ownership of some of the securities contained within the mutual fund. In addition to this, mutual funds also benefit from having a built in system of diversification, as well as professional money management services that handle all of the money that is invested into the fund.

Shareholders are free to purchase additional shares or sell the shares that they already possess at any time, though the value of the shares fluctuates daily and therefore must be bought or sold with care so as to get the best value for the money.

Finding the Best Mutual Funds

Since the value of mutual funds varies from day to day, it can be difficult to find the funds that are best for your investment. Instead of tracking the funds as you would traditional stocks and securities, it's often better to investigate the fund to determine which investment company is managing the fund and what specific securities are currently being held by the fund itself.

Finding a mutual fund that is managed by an investment company that has a strong record of choosing lucrative investments is a good sign that the fund might be a smart buy, and securities held within a fund that are consistent performers can help add stability and security to an investment that may seem otherwise unstable.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author's biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

Advantages of Low-Cost Mutual Funds

A common misconception about mutual funds is that pretty much any reputable fund will do. Of course, any investment that produces a solid return for you is better than nothing, but not all funds are created equal. When you buy a mutual fund, you’ll pay a management fee. It’s what you pay for someone to handle your accounts. A low-cost fund will charge you one-fifth of one percent per year. A typical high-cost fund will charge about eight times more than that.

Research was recently published analyzing a 25 year old investing 10 percent of their $30,000 income each year until retirement into mutual funds. Comparing money put high-cost funds with that put into low-cost funds produced quite dramatic results. The good news is that the person investing in the high-cost funds ended up with around $1.7 million at retirement. Not too bad! But here’s the real kicker – the person investing in a low-cost fund ended up with $2.9 million!

The S&P recently did some research evaluating the performance of low-cost funds vs. that of the higher-costs funds. So what did they find out? In eight out of nine categories, the low-cost fund outperformed their higher-cost counterpart. The average low-cost fund outperformed the typical fund by an average of 20 percent. It’s important that you not only choose a low-cost fund, but you analyze the performance of that fund in years past. Check to see who was actively managing that fund over that time, and if they were successful and are still managing that fund, then consider putting your money with them.

What’s great about figures like these is that they show the amazing power of investing over time. Even better is that they show how simple decisions, like choosing a low-cost mutual fund over a high-cost one, can reap dramatic benefits. Look at it this way, would an extra $1.2 million (oh whatever the difference would be based on your age) be worth time it takes to make the right financial decision?

Will Kirby is author of Kirby on Finance, a popular personal finance website. You can visit his site at http://www.kirbyonfinance.com!

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