A fund's portfolio turnover rate reveals how much buying and selling is going on. Fund prospectuses use a variety of charts and graphs to show performance over the last 10 or even 20 years, or as long as they have been in existence. In general, high turnovers mean higher stockbroker expenses. That means the fund needs higher returns to offset higher trading costs. The prospectus also tells you how to buy and sell shares in the fund, as well as how to use all the fund's services.
Minimum investments exist for most funds.
A higher amount is required for opening an account than for adding to it. Investment options let you buy over the phone, online, by mail, through a broker, or with automatic direct deposit. Reinvestment options let you decide what to do with the money you earn. You can plow your distributions back into the fund, take the money in cash, or some combination of the two. Exchange services let you transfer money from one fund to another.