Top investment companies for retirement

The best and most respected investment companies of today are Vanguard, Fidelity, and American Funds.

Vanguard has been in a neck-and-neck race with American Funds for years, and in 2007 Vanguard edged out as the as the nation’s top-selling fund company. What makes it stand out above the rest is that it provides superior investment options, and is owned by its shareholders (meaning it is a not-for-profit company), so its expenses are very low. For example, the Vanguard Wellington plan, which is considered a near-perfect choice for retirement investment by financial advisors, places 65 percent of assets in big company stocks, 32 percent in high-quality, intermediate-term bonds (bonds that last 3.5 6 years and rotate among better-valued sectors in the bond market) and the remaining amount in cash – and the expense ratio is very, very small (only 0.27 percent). The Vanguard Primecap Core plan is also a top choice with a nice expense ratio of 0.55 percent. And the Vanguard REIT Index Fund allows 401k contributors to invest in real-estate investment trusts instead of stocks and only charges 0.2 percent in expenses – a plan that is highly recommended by advisors. Other things consumers seem to love with Vanguard are their low-cost EFTs (electronic funds transfers). However, one of the problems you’ll find with Vanguard is that many of their top performers are withheld from 401(k) plans.

While Vanguard is the top-selling fund company, Fidelity Investments has the largest network when it comes to distributing corporate 401k retirement plans. Many say that in comparison with Vanguard, Fidelity is the epitome of big business, but unfortunately is not as personable. So with this company, finding the right manager for your fund account can make or break your experience. A few of Fidelity’s top funds that make it, rank high among other companies are Magellan, Contrafund, and Emerging Markets. Magellan is loved because it is channeled to both foreign stocks and domestic juggernauts like Google. Contrafund, which is only available through employer retirement plans, is a favorite because it falls into the top five percent of large-growth mutual funds and has been there for well over a decade. And Fidelity Emerging Markets is ranked as one of the best due to its reasonable fees and because it has beaten 97 percent of its competition over the past three years. Between these three retirement funds, advisors feel that investors are definitely in good hands with Fidelity.

American Funds is another top choice in investment companies for retirement, and is the world’s largest fund company. If you’ve never heard of it, it is because it doesn’t advertise to individuals – only working with brokers and financial advisors. This company offers significantly fewer mutual funds than the competitors, keeping its stash in the dozens. But surprisingly, this has helped the company grow into a humongous company for retirement investing. In fact, American Funds has seven of the ten largest mutual funds, including Growth Fund of America, which is by far the largest fund in the world to date.

There are several other large companies like Edward Jones and Wells Fargo that are well-known in the investment world, but these three companies above know the business well, and thus are very likely to deliver the results you need. The fact of the matter is though, it truly depends on your needs as to whom is the top investment company for you. It depends on a multitude of factors including how much money your starting off investing with, what kind of service you need, and various other factors. Be certain youve visited our lessons to help you devise a plan so you know who and what to look for depending on your demands.

Top investments for your portfolio in bad or recessionary times

The top or best investments for your portfolio in recessionary times include those companies that benefit in spite of hard times. Instead of getting deep into the economics and determining product elasticity (or in-elasticity), which would add a bunch of confusion for my readers not versed in economic theory, this article will simply focus on those companies doing well in the recession. Please keep in mind, as times get better these companies are destined to come back to earth with regards to their earnings and stock prices.

The following list of types of companies and products is not all inclusive, rather a starting point for helping you further explore companies that may be profitable now that we are struggling and still losing jobs.

• Discounted grocery stores and fast food: People tend to look at private label brands more favorably as their income falls. Restaurants have been hard hit, as more people pickup groceries and stay home. Look of for companies that manufacture items like pastas, noodles, etc. On the flip-side, smaller fast food chains may pickup if their menus adapt to consumer demand for cheap meals. As more and more people stay home, things get dirtier, hence, items like cleaning goods and personal care items may see an increase in sales as people choose to cut their own hair, do their own nails, and color their own hair.

• Alternative Transportation companies: Over the road truckers might be in for a real shock if they havent experienced it already at the pumps, I’m guessing as they lose the ability to make transporting profitable, rail companies will get their business. As oil prices continue to rise, flatcars pushing containers will become common place again.

• Low cost providers: People will lose an appetite for extras when it comes down to it. Seek those companies that are generic and cost efficient.

• Aerospace companies and companies whom make defense systems.

• We cant forget about staffing firms, with many people out of work their services will be demanded.

Top investment in a rebounding market

The markets have gained 3000 points back in just under 6 months, its still not too late to jump on the bull and ride it by its horn. The key is, knowing what to buy now that weve seen the rebound start. To do that though, you need to first understand what fueled the demise and its rebound, which well discuss below.

By now, most people understand that a massive housing bubble among other things (like rapid consumer spending without regards to saving and with no means to repay debt) caused this crisis. More specifically, stocks tied to sub-prime mortgages were bundled up as good investments. People thought their home values would continue to rise, and they took out home equity loans and went spend crazy. Companies were profitable across the board with unreasonable expectations that we would be able to continue that pace. When the markets realized people were defaulting on their homes with loans tied to variable interest rates, the real estate market fell with a thunderous crash. Suddenly, with home prices down all of that additional or extra money people had (because of their home equity lines of credit) was suddenly frozen and people began to panic. They decided to hoard their money and tried to make-up for the over spending but not spending. That sent companies sales across the board down the tube and most all stock prices were affected because now reasonable future expectations set in. When the big banks realized they werent sufficiently capitalized to take losses on the numerous inflated homes they had to take back over as a result of foreclosure they started to scrutinize who they were lending to, and suddenly there was much less individuals who could qualify for homes, so prices had to drop further.

Finally, we think weve seen a bottom in home prices, and the markets have started to stabilize. People have started spending again and also snapping up stocks that are priced at historical lows. But what is driving the rebound? The bottom line is future expectations, just a couple of years ago there was too much uncertainty as to the extent of this problem. As earnings reports start coming back showing continual growth stock prices soon follow.

In developing a top investment strategy, look for companies that are showing consistent growth in earnings and use a little common sense will they be able to keep it up in the future and over the life of your investment horizon. If so then proceed with caution, but dont wait too long you could miss out on still basement bargain prices.

Online Brokerage Companies: An Anaylsis of the best brokers to invest with

(Be sure to check out our thorough broker reviews where you can get info on most every broker out there.)

Online brokerage companies are a dime a dozen. So who should you choose to work with? The following analysis will answer multiple questions you may have and provide you some direction.

The various questions this article will address include. What options are there as far as an online brokerage firm is concerned. Who is the best online brokerage or best broker online for your money? For those whom know more about and investing and wish to do most things on their own, well discuss which online brokerages offer more than they likely need, and help them find the best online discount brokerage. Like we mentioned above online stock brokerage companies come in every size, and offer many different levels of service with regards to their managing your online brokerage account.

Online brokerage firms certainly are abundant these days, it seems as if a new one pops up every other day. As far as options are concerned, below is our list of the best online brokerage companies today.

• E*TRADE
• Scottrade
• Ameritrade
• Firstrade
• Fidelity
• FolioInvesting
• Schwab
• Forex
• Interactive Brokers
• Sharebuilder
• TD Ameritrade
• Lightspeed
• Marsco
• Thinkorswim
• Tradeking
• Tradestation
• OptionsXpress
• Zecco

For those in need of a more full service oriented online trading brokerage company, that will walk you through the process from beginning to end, we would recommend the online brokerage services offered by one of the larger full service online brokerage companies mentioned above like Fidelity or E*Trade.

Now, many investors are already familiar with the companies out there  but they want to know who is the least expensive: The truth is, the amount of money you will be investing may determine with whom you can invest. Some of the companies listed will not allow you to open an account with less than $5,000 or in some cases you will need $50000 or more to start and open online brokerage accounts with them. Moreover, several of the companies like Sharebuilder offer no account minimums whatsoever.

So who is the best online brokerage or best broker online for your money youre asking? To provide you the best answer we will show you our criteria for calling someone the best; The best is not always the biggest, the prettiest, nor the most well-known. The best is the best because theyre perceived by customers as willing to go the extra mile to please them. Like a good waiter, theyre not over burdening, but theyre there when you need their assistance. We look at the best online brokerage company like many would evaluate food, it needs to taste good, be reasonably priced and the service experience needs to be worth the money. Having said that, our favorite online brokerage companies  include. Schwab, and Interactive Brokers because they all provide the best bang for the buck. You will find our ratings fall in line with JD power ratings, Kiplingers, SmartMoney, and several other consumer rating companies.

Here is an older but still current online brokerage comparison we completed they may help you determine how to dwindle down that list of potential companies.

Best investment companies today and after the economic collapse

With the recent collapse we witnessed several major investment company giants collapse, or get swallowed up by other banks or investment companies. Having said that, a few of the big dogs that survived the crisis include State Street, Fidelity, and Vanguard in the United States. Companies such as Merill Lynch (they own Black Rock too) whom was recently acquired by Bank of America is still operating, but only because the government more or less forced BOA to acquire them with TARP funds. So, when considering who you want to work with or whom you want handling your money deeply consider their history, as some are much better than others. Below is a list of many more (including those above) you may be interested to research further in order of their size of assets (in millions) managed (not all are mentioned here, for example T. Rowe Price), rather the largest across the globe.

1. UBS AG according to its website (31.03.09) 2059 Switzerland

2. Barclays Global Investors 1,400 UK

3. State Street Global Advisors 1,367 US

4. Fidelity Investments 1,299 US

5. The Vanguard Group 852 US

6. JPMorgan Chase 782 US

7. Capital Group 757 US

8. Deutsche Bank 723 Germany

9. Northern Trust 598 US

10. AllianceBernstein 516 US

11. Wellington Management Company 484 US

12. Merrill Lynch & Co. 473 US

13. Credit Agricole 461 France

14. Goldman Sachs 452 US

15. Citigroup

An investment company is a company whose main business is holding securities of other companies purely for investment purposes. The investment company invests money on behalf of its shareholders who in turn share in the profits and losses.

In United States securities law, there are at least three types of investment companies [1]:

* Open-End Management Investment Companies (mutual funds)

* Closed-End Management Investment Companies (closed-end funds)

A fourth and lesser-known type of investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 is a Face-Amount Certificate Company.