Mutual Funds (bond, cash, 401k, invest)

[CTR36]

Can anyone recommend any good mutual funds to invest in?
Something rather safe and not that volatile to put some of my retirment investments?
I will be putting about $750 a month in this
(this is not my only retirment fund. I work for a local gov't so 7% of my check goes into the city's retirement account too )

I currently have a 401K from a previous employer where I am just going to let my money sit (it's not that much, about $3K) so I was wondering if I should move some of that money around.

Any thoughts? Ideas or Favorites?
I also currently contribute $200 a month to my ING savings organge account.

[StealthRabbit]

VWELX

dodbx
dodfx (international)

VTSMX (total market)

(Probably you need to define your objectives and other investments... You really need to be diversified, check for overlap with your 401 choices...

overall portfolio I do
30 % equities (which currently are 30% inter (latin, eur and asia), 40 % US (growth) and 30 % cash / bond / income)
30 % investment Real estate
30 % solid investments... treasuries, + house equity (30% LTV)

I only have mutuals in my 401k, the rest are etf's, But...I need to open a Vanguard acct next week to stash some of my capital gains I'm liquidating during this 'picnic' of tax benefit, to expire VERY SOON.

[LongArm]

If you want "rather safe and not that volatile," I'd suggest going to Morningstar.com and using their fund screener to find a good fund in the "balanced" category, "moderate allocation" sub-category. These funds are about 60% stocks, 40% bonds. The bond portion really helps smooth out the volatility, but doesn't hurt returns "too" much over the long run. Your screen criteria should be no-load funds only, a 5-year (or longer) return better than the category average, manager's been there at least 5 years (the one that's responsible for those good returns, IOW), and a reasonable expense ratio (say, 1% or less). That should bring up some good candidates to get you started anyway. One balanced fund I can think of off-hand that will likely end up on your short list is Dodge & Cox's (can't remember the ticker). It's a pretty good one and D&C is one of the really good fund families. My favorite is an Oakmark fund, OAKBX, but it's still closed to new investors I believe.

Jan has the right idea in spreading your money around to various categories/asset classes. REITs (real estate), for example, have a pretty low correlation to stocks, so they, like bonds, are also good for smoothing out volatility in your overall portfolio. You might take a look at CGMRX--it's been a real superstar in the REIT category.

Hope this helps.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

We seem to be heading into a prolonged inflationary period. During those times the large companies tend to be able to absorb the beating better. As a result I like some of the blue chip mutuals. A couple that come to mind are Investment Company of America & Washington Mutual Investors Fund. Both are American Funds. I've done very well over the years. They don't go for home runs, but try to be practice conservative investing. Anyway, works for me.

REMEMBER, funds that average 10% per year often outperform those that average 20%. It's all about "preservation of capitol".

[norm]

As janb suggested you should have a planned asset allocation and spread your funds over different categories so if one category goes down the other will stay even or rise to balance out. You should also read some investment books, if you are going to do investing you have to learn how to do it.

Here is a web site that contains good basic information and a suggested reading list.

[evilnewbie]

You can't simply say "I need a "good" mutual fund"... there are many factors to weigh in... your age, your income, your desired retirement income, how much you have saved already, etc etc... all mutual funds are different and there is no mutual fund that "fits all sizes"...

[CTR36]

Thank you