Does Anyone Here Invest In Mutual Funds?

[Guest wildpegasus]

So, does anyone here invest in mutual funds? Do you have any stories to share? Any advice?

[JJMc 0]

I had some through Putnam Investments from 1996-99. I had two of them, Voyager and New Opportunities, which I initially put $500 into, for a total of $1000. When I took it out in '99, I had about $1600. Not great, but pretty good when you're 14. Mind you, this was when the economy was good. Then, in late 2000, my father bought me stock in EMC (data storage company) with most of the money from the mutual fund. The price per share when I bought it was $98. I still own the stock, and check on it occasionally. The price is usually somewhere around $12-13 per share. I think it may have gotten up around $14 at one point, but don't quote me on that.

 

So, the lesson here is: don't buy stock at $100 per share. It's fucking stupid. However, Mutual funds can be great, even when the economy is on a downslide. I don't really know much about them, but as I said, Putnam Investments worked out for me.