I recall having read an interesting little quote related to the stock market, it went something like this, "Market Statistics are like a bikini, what they reveal is important, what they conceal is vital." If your like many of us who are trying to save and invest money for our, or our children's future. You might find that understanding all there is to know about the stock market is an exercise in futility. Attempting to comprehend market fundamentals, economic theory, interest rate implications on investments, and fundamental analysis of individual companies is at best challenging. Adding insult to injury, we must then muddle through the dizzying array of investment categories such as : small cap stocks, mid cap stocks, large cap stocks, growth stocks, value stocks, international stocks, global stocks, emerging market stocks, alternative energy stocks. Doesn't it just make you want to throw your hands up in frustration, and run out to your nearest bank to open a cash savings account, wipe your hands clean of the whole mess and move on!

I will not attempt to even discuss dealing with brokers. Mark Twain had a interesting view on brokers it went something like: "I consider that a broker goes according to the instincts that are in him, and means no harm, and fulfils his mission according to his lights, and has a right to live, and be happy in a general way, and be protected by the law to some extent, just the same as a better man. I consider that brokers come into the world with souls - I am justified they do: and if they wear them out in the course of a long career of stock-jobbing, have they not a right to come in at the eleventh hour and get themselves half-soled, like old boots, and be saved at last?" I'm not as hard on brokers as Twain, but I can see his point.

There is an avenue for investors of all ilk's to go about the business of investing their hard won earnings. It may not even require a high speed internet connection, an Iphone, or the ability to comprehend the minutia discussed above. Mutual funds offer the individual investor the ability to invest in the stock market while allowing them to forego the intricate, and time consuming exercise of evaluating individual stocks.

There are literally thousands of mutual funds available to investors. The Investment Company Institute (ICI) has identified over 8,500 funds which invest over $11.39 trillion . That's trillion with a "T"! According to the ICI: 96 million individuals own

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