Find them at WSJ's Investing 101 . They are much the same. The best time to invest is as soon as possible. Consider the story of Louie the Loser . A mutual fund is a pool of securities operated and managed by an investment company.
Shareholders own a percentage of the securities held by the fund.
For example, if the mutual fund invests in stocks, the mutual fund shareholders own a portion of all them. The most common form of a mutual fund is an open-end fund, which means the fund can redeem or issue shares at any time. The managing company earns money by charging a percentage based on the total number of assets in the fund. In some cases, it will also earn revenue through sales fees. A no-load fund is one that does not have a sales charge to the investor to buy or to sell.