Mutual Funds or Stocks? Finding your best investment balance

Building a fortune through investing is a dream most of us have had at one time or another. An investment of $40 in Coca-Cola’s 1919 IPO is worth nearly $400,000 today; reinvesting dividends over the decades would have put more than $10 million into your pocket. That’s some serious cheddar.
 
Since we can’t time travel into the next century to scope out the financial future, most of us have to build wealth the old-fashioned way: inheritance (this only works if your family is already rich) or education, persistence, and investing. Spoiler alert, the second method can work for anyone.
 
Over time, the stock market has shown itself to be the lowest barrier to entry asset class generators of wealth. There are a couple of different ways you can start investing in the stock market.
 
 
1. Individual shares of stock: Buying shares of stock is a direct investment in a company. If the company does well, the price of its stock will rise and if it falters the stock price usually drops. This is considered a risky way to invest, since there is no way to predict how a stock will perform in the future. Stocks are bought through a broker or online brokerage firm. The cost to execute an order to buy or sell stock should be free! If it isn’t, keep searching for a brokerage that provides free trades.
 
2. Mutual funds: A mutual fund is a “basket” of securities that is professionally run and managed. Mutual funds typically seek to provide an array of investments rather than pooling all of their funds into a single company, industry, or type of security. Mutual funds can be made up of dozens of different types of investments. If one company in a mutual fund portfolio does poorly, other investments can balance out the loss so the overall fund takes less of a loss. Mutual funds are managed by investment professionals who charge a fee for their service. Management fees for mutual funds can run anywhere from .25% to over 2.5%.
Investing is an inherently risky process, so start by considering your tolerance for financial risk. Market-based investments rise and fall throughout every trading day. Will you be watching the markets constantly and stressing out over every dollar lost? Or are you comfortable with occasional check-ins?
 
If you have a high tolerance for risk and are looking for a high rate of return, individual stocks might work for you. If you want to mitigate your investment risk and still see solid returns, focus more on mutual funds. Remember that wealth-building gains are usually seen over a long investment horizon – think 20 or 30 years. When choosing which stock or which fund to invest in, don’t focus too closely on the year-over-year or even five-year return results. Look at the longest time frame possible and see if those results fit with your long-term goals.
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Hakop Kupalyan, Social Media Manager

Hometown: North Hollywood, CA
Favorite asset class: Real Estate
Education background: B.S. Marketing
Professional background: E-commerce and Marketing

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Favorite quote:
“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.”
Henry Ford

Bojan Todorovic, Video Production Manager

Hometown: Nis, Serbia
Favorite asset class: Business
Education background: Science school Bora Stankovic
Professional background: TV production

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Favorite quote:
“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them”
Chris Grosser

Edward Smith, Social Media Analyst

Hometown: Boston
Favorite asset class: Securities
Education background: B.S. Operations Management
Professional background: Sales and Marketing

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Favorite quote:
“You do not find the happy life, you make it.”
Camilla Eyring Kimball

Spencer Park, Video Production Manager

Hometown: Bothell, WA
Favorite asset class: Business
Education background: Bachelor’s in Communications and Anthropology
Professional background: Event/Digital Marketing

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Favorite quote: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi

Betty Soto, UX/UI Designer

Hometown: Beaumont, CA
Favorite asset class: Real Estate
Education background: West Coast Ultrasound Institute Associate of Science in Cardiovascular Sonography, Current student at Colorado Technical University majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Digital Marketing.
Professional background: Cardiology Technician

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Favorite quote:
“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”
Vincent van Gogh

Rahul Kulkarni, Asst. COO

Rahul Kulkarni serves as the Assistant Chief Operating Officer for RINO INVEST. In 1999 he earned a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering before receiving his Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Pune. In his spare time he enjoys bird watching and spending time with his wife and son.
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Favorite quote:
“I don’t believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and make them right!”
Sir Ratan Tata

Diego Castiblanco, Web Admin

Diego Castiblanco works as the Web Developer of RINO INVEST, He got his degree in Computer Science from The Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas in 2017, he worked as a full-time Web Developer in UpWork which is one of the best freelancing platforms, he got the Top Rated Plus tag due to his dedication and professionalism serving clients from start-ups to big companies.

Favorite quote:
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Epictetus

Barbara Babcock, Curriculum Designer

Barbara Babcock is a Learning and Development Consultant and Financial Educator. Her passion is creating technology-rich learning solutions for Fortune 500 clients in the finance, technology, and engineering industries. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Technology Leadership from The George Washington University and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Dallas. She is also an emerging professional photographer whose work has been shown in various locations in Austin and Santa Fe.

Favorite quote:
“Experience is making mistakes and learning from them.”
Bill Ackman

Matt Pettit, CIO

Matt Pettit serves as the Chief Investment Officer of RINO INVEST. He is a 2015 Graduate of Wofford College with a degree in Accounting. He also serves his country as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve.

Favorite quote:
“Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.”
P.T. Barnum