Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: Five-Star Strategies for Success

by Christine Benz, Russel Kinnel (Editor), Peter Di Teresa (Editor)

GUIDE TO MUTUAL FUNDS

SECOND EDITION

"Picking actively managed mutual funds is no mean challenge. And as the recent era underscores, past performance is of little help. The Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds helps cut through the fog with a solid volume of constructive information. The central message--'truly diversify, keep it simple, focus on costs, and stick with it'--is not only timeless, it is priceless."
--John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO, The Vanguard Group

"Successful investors know they must do their own due diligence. Morningstar has done much of that homework in this guide. Leave it to Morningstar to get it right, offering smart ways to pick, build and monitor a portfolio. It's a commonsense guide that should grace every investor's shelf."
--Ted David, CNBC Anchor

"There's nothing Morningstar doesn't know about mutual funds. And at last, for ready reference, there's a book. You'll find everything here you need to know about managing fund investments, inside or outside a 401(k)."
--Jane Bryant Quinn, Newsweek columnist and author of Making the Most of Your Money

Genres: Finance

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 13, 2002

Reviews

[Ian Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the Monringstar Guide to Mutual Funds, Christine Benz et al. give an overview of mutual funds, diversification of a portfolio, and discuss the volatility and risk associated with a variety of different investments. This reader was previously able to obtain about ninety percent of the information in this book by clicking through online brokerage websites, but it is an organized and fairly comprehensive presentation that would be more useful to the new investor. The book combines recommendations for investment ideas, economic explanations for how different types of investments can match the investor's goals, and tax strategies for minimizing losses to the IRS. The writing style is clear and to-the-point, so the authors impart a decent amount of information in a small space while including humor and examples that keep the pages turning. Although it contains nothing profound, the Morningstar Guide achieves its objective of introducing mutual funds and encouraging a safe and responsible approach to investing in them.

[GERALD M HURLEY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some timeless advice and teachings mixed with outdated fund favorites

At the time I read the book it was nearly 20 years old. The book does a fantastic job explaining the breadth of investment choices and guides you through how to build your portfolio based upon your goals and time horizon. Includes advice on going it alone or using an advisor. Anywhere they talked about Morningstar favorites was 20 years old.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful resource for the amateur investor.

[Margaret Kasik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, but outdated.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a lot of modern financial guides aimed at the common man (ahem, myself), this book assumed too much knowledge. Written in a minimalist, hyper-simple style with a calm font, it seemed like a perfect jumping off point for my interest in mutual funds. Unfortunately, far too much time is devoted to funds with exorbitant minimum requirements (people who can afford million dollar funds probably aren't reading how-to books). Disappointing.

[Amiril · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book guide us how to properly pick up Mutual Funds or in my country we called it Reksadana. Morningstar is the credible sources suits to discuss the subject. A one sit read book and you will get the most value out of it. My suggestion perhaps to starts studying on the subject from Investopedia with references to Morningstar website before digging in this book. Happy learning!

[Michael Berges · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outdated information, needs to show their own actual reports for better reference.