After she was widowed, Mary received a lump sum from her husband’s life insurance policy. Mary needed current income and also wanted to invest for her retirement. Her financial planner, Harriet, suggested mutual funds. Harriet explained that a mutual fund is a professionally managed pool of stocks and/or bonds that provide reduced portfolio risk through [...]

After Anna received half of a joint stock brokerage account in her divorce, she went to see Sam, a stockbroker recommended by a family friend. Sam quickly found that Anna’s knowledge of investments was slim, so he explained stocks to her. Stocks in a company represent a portion of ownership, called shares, that are bought [...]

What does financial freedom mean to you? For most people, it is living free from financial worry. We must invest today to build a secure tomorrow, but many people put off investing because they don’t know how to begin. But managing your investments does not have to be an onerous task, as you will find [...]