Just as there are many benefits to investing your hard earned dollars in mutual funds there are a few drawbacks to this decision as well. In order to make a truly informed investment decision you need to be aware of both the pros and cons of mutual fund investing before you make the decision as to whether or not this style of investing is suitable to meet your financial needs now and in the future. Keep reading for a little bit of enlightening information on the downside of investing in mutual funds.
1) Low return on investment. While you can make a comfortable retirement for yourself by investing in mutual funds you won’t find the swift and bold flips, turns, and swings that you might find in the sales of certain high yield stocks. In fact, mutual funds are more the slow and steady wins the race sorts of investment methods, which are effective in their own right but, while providing comfort, will not bring copious amounts of wealth.
2) Dubious management. While this isn’t true of all mutual funds you need to check the fund manager out thoroughly before buying into the fund. You never really know whom to trust in this day and age and many people have complained that they would have done better making the decisions on their own rather than relying on the fund manager in order to do so. Of course, when you are making your own decisions you will have other worries on your mind at all times. So professional management can be a benefit or a downside depending on the manager you get for your fund.
3) Too much of a good thing isn’t really good. The problem with mutual funds is that the funds that are doing well and netting high returns for its investors are often quickly inundated with new investors wanting the same results and there is only so much the manager can do to make good on the money that has been invested. There is another issue in which the fact that funds purchase such a small portion of so many stocks that when one or a handful of the companies that the fund is invested in do extremely well, the pool sharing the profits is so large that the impact is often negligible.
4) The big killer for many investors is that the fund manager takes actions that are right for the fund and those actions may not be what is best for your individual situation. A broker or financial planner that you deal with personally is much more likely to make financial decisions for you that are geared towards your individual needs and not the needs of a much larger group. If you want individual advice and guidance then a mutual fund is definitely not the way to go. You should also avoid them if you are in a precarious situation when it comes to things such as capital gains taxes, which can significantly impact your actual profits.
5) Personal control. Are you a control freak? Many of us are and when you go with a mutual fund you are giving someone else control of something that is often very personal. No one likes the idea of being at another person’s mercy when it comes to retirement or planning for the future and you are essentially putting your retirement, your vacation home, or your child’s college education in someone else’s hands. This is a frightening situation for someone who is typically in control of these investment decisions
It really doesn’t matter whether or not you ultimately decide to include mutual funds in your investment portfolio. The important thing is that when the time to decide presents itself you are in a position to make an informed decision about whether or not you want them included and to act upon the decision you make for better or for worse.