Information about me

Chicago, Illinois, United States
I have worked to improve professionals and international interaction centers since the mid-90s. I have worked with organizations to grow newly formed organizations to 300% their initial inflow of customers and support personnel and helped others reduce the life of open issues by 1/3. I have aided multiple start-up ventures through planning and initial phases of opening their doors. Occasionally, I work with individuals on improving their resumes, interviewing skills and professional presentation. I believe in a core principle that you should always be looking for the next rung above you and guiding somebody to make a change in their lives as they approach where you have been. Kaizen is the Japanese principle of continual improvement, I call mine ‘the next one up’.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Mutual Fund 401k Basics

Front Page Information (the basics)

Mutual funds are investments made up of smaller investments inside based on the focus of the mutual fund. A fund is managed by the a fund manager (Fidelity) and a group of people at the company are responsible for adding and removing stocks to the mutual fund based on the purpose of the fund and stock performance. Then, they take your money in the fund and automatically invest it for you.

Large Cap (4 options) Funds that invest in big corporations, generally they have a value of $8 million or more. Generally these are the big, steady companies which will not have huge growth in performance but are less volatile. They invest in companies like Apple, Exxon, Discover, Google, Red Hat.

Mid Cap (3 options) Funds that invest in companies valued between $1 million and $8 million. They invest in companies like Microsoft, Best Buy, Abercrombie & Fitch, Oracle.

Small Cap (3 options) Generally invest in companies with a value under $1 million. These are going to be more active as far as value because companies will grow quickly or die in most cases. They invest in companies like Regis, Wesco, Spectrum Brand Holdings, Team Health Holdings. Most you will not be familiar with.

International (2 options) Mutual funds that invest in company stocks around the world.

Specialty (1 option) Specific categories to invest in. The only option here is an investment in real estate organization's stock funds.

Blended (many options) This is the auto-pilot option, pick the year you expect to retire and the Fidelity team adjusts the risk of the fund as it approaches your retirement. (e.g. They search for large gains from higher risk options while you are in your 20s & 30s. As you Are in your 50s the fund focuses on steady, small growth.)

Income (1 option) This is a bond investment option of Corporate bonds. More secure in troubled times than stock investments but also limited in gains based on this.

Short-Term Investments (1 option) This is a Money Market account, safe, secure, akin to a savings account.

I used the Fidelity website & Yahoo Business pages as reference for this.
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