Mutual Funds Starter Guides

Investors with limited knowledge, time or money benefit heavily from the simplicity and instant diversification of mutual funds.

What are Mutual Funds

What Are Mutual Funds?

A mutual fund pools money from a bunch of investors to purchase securities. Mutual funds come with advantages and disadvantages – learn the ins and outs here.

How do Mutual Funds Work

How Do Mutual Funds Work?

Investments are managed by a portfolio manager – they decide when to buy and sell investments. Learn about how mutual funds work and how to make money off them.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages And Disadvantages?

Thinking of investing in mutual funds? It’s critical you know the advantages and disadvantages of investing in a mutual fund over a single stock.

How to Buy Mutual Funds

How To Buy Mutual Funds?

Thinking about investing but not sure how to buy mutual funds? The selection process is actually easier than you think. Learn how and where to buy mutual funds

Mutual Funds Ratings

Mutual Funds Ratings

Need a quick-and-dirty opinion on a fund? Get familiar with mutual funds ratings. It’s important to know how a fund has performed before investing in it.

Compare Mutual Funds

Compare Mutual Funds

Comparing mutual funds requires careful examination. To get the full picture, it’s important to look at the fund’s performance over a period of time.

Types of Mutual Funds

Types of Mutual Funds

There are so many different types of mutual funds to choose from. Find out which mutual fund types are best suited to your personal investing style.

Build your wealth faster with best stock picks: See our new January 1, 2026 ranking of the Best Stock Newsletters.


Ranking of Top Stock Newsletters Based on Last 3 Years of Stock Picks as of December 27, 2025

We are paid subscribers to dozens of stock and option newsletters. We actively track every recommendation from all of these services, calculate performance, and share our results of the top performing stock newsletters whose subscriptions fees are under $500. The main metric to look for is "Return vs S&P500" which is their return above that of the S&P500. So, based on December 27, 2025 prices:

Best Stock Newsletters Last 3 Years' Performance

RankStock NewsletterPicks
Return
Return
vs S&P500
Picks
w Profit
Max %
Return
Current Promotion
1.Seeking Alpha logo
Alpha Picks
82%56%76%1,583%VALENTINE'S SALE:
SAVE $75 NOW
Summary: 2 picks per month based on Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating; consistently beating the market every year since launch; tells you when to sell and they have sold almost half. See complete details in our full Alpha Picks review.
Or get their Premium service to get their QUANT RATINGS on your stocks to better manage your current portfolio--read our Is Seeking Alpha Worth It? article to learn more about their Quant Ratings.
2.Zacks logo
Zacks Value Investor
60%40%54%692%February Promotion:
$1, then $495/yr
Summary: 10 stock picks per year on January 1st based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr and includes 6 different services including those below. Read our Zacks Review.
3.Moby logo
Moby.co
50%16%74%2,569%February Promotion:
Next pick free!
Summary: 60-150 stock picks per year, segmented by industry; consistently beating the market every year; retail price is $199/yr. Read our full Moby Review.
4.Zacks logo
Zacks Top 10
36%15%71%170%February Promotion:
$1, then $495/yr
Summary: 10 stock picks per year on January 1st based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr and includes 6 different services. Read our Zacks Review.
5.TipRanks logo
TipRanks SmartInvestor
20%9%62%464%Current Promotion:
Save $180
Summary: About 1 pick/week focusing on short term trades; Lifetime average return of 355% vs S&P500's 149% since 2015. Retail Price is $379/yr. Read our TipRanks Review.
6.TheStreet logo
Action Alerts Plus
27%5%66%208%Current Promotion:
None
Summary: 100-150 trades per year, lots of buying and selling and short-term trades. Read our Jim Cramer Review.
7.Zacks logo
Zacks Home Run Investor
5%-0.4%45%241%February Promotion:
$1, then $495/yr
Summary: 40-50 stock picks per year based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Zacks Review.
8.
Dogs of the Dow Strategy
16%-1.8%43%44%Current Promotion:
None
Summary: Buy the 10 highest yielding dividends stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on January 1st and sell on Dec 31st each year.
9.
IBD Leaderboard ETF
11.4%-1.8%n/an/aFebruary Promotion:
NONE
Summary: Maintains top 50 stocks to invest in based on IBD algorithm; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Investors Business Daily Review.
10.Motley Fool logo
Stock Advisor
34%-3.9%75%289%February Promotion:
Get $100 Off
Summary: 2 picks/month and 2 Best Buy Stocks lists focusing on high growth potential stocks over 5 years; Retail Price is $199/yr. Read our Motley Fool Review.
11.Zacks logo
Zacks Under $10
-0.2%-4%-4.3263%February Promotion:
$1, then $495/yr
Summary: 40-50 stock picks per year based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Zacks Review.
12.Motley Fool logo
Rule Breakers
34%-5.1%69%320%Current Promotion:
Save $200
Summary: Rule Breakers is included with the Fool's Epic Service. Get 5 picks/month focusing on disruptive technology and business models; Lifetime average return of 355% vs S&P500's 149% since 2005; Now part of Motley Fool Epic. Read our Motley Fool Epic Review.
Top Ranking Stock Newsletters based on their last 3 years of stock picks covering 2025, 2024, and 2023 performance as compared to S&P500. S&P500's return is based on average return of S&P500 from date each stock pick is released. NOTE: To get these results you must buy equal dollar amounts of each pick on the date the stock pick is released. Investor Business Daily Top 50 based on performance of FFTY ETF. Performance as of December 27, 2025.

Leave a Comment