So you want to purchase an investment to secure the rest of your life? Well when picking a fund there are some fundamental things that you need to ask yourself.
1) What is your overall goal/investment objective? 2) What is your timeframe? 3) What is your overall risk tolerance? 4) What is your total overall investment capital? After answering these basic questions here are some of the fundamental categories to pose when you open your investment account or speak to your native financial advisor who seems to confound you with more information than is necessary to get your retirement or 401k party started.
First, when looking at different mutual funds they all are broken down into different categories that have a wide range of investment goals.
The one that has moved to the forefront of the investment arena is the "life cycle fund", with such an easy investment option it basically takes into consideration all of the aforementioned questions and compiles them into a potential "panacea" for the novice investor.
Most "life cycle funds" have low investment expense ratios or management fees(cost to manage the fund), typically high dividend yields (interest payout to the fund and investor) and proven risk distribution based on the timeframe and tolerance of the investor.
So if you are looking for a great investment option this is the perfect place to begin a great internet search for these types of investments.
Some of the best places to look are at your local investment firms and ask for these potential types of funds.
Also ask them how have they performed and what is the background of the fund manager, just as if you were going to purchase a car and you get the "car-fax" as your investment rep about the "fund facts" or do the research yourself.
All in all there are some great choices out there and you now have the power to make an informed investment decision.
So go out there be wise, go in peace and prosper.