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Mutual Funds & ETFs

Understand how mutual funds and ETFs work, the active vs passive debate, key differences between fund types, and why expense ratios matter.

0/4 lessons completed

What You'll Learn

  • How mutual funds pool investor money and are professionally managed
  • Why index funds outperform most actively managed funds over time
  • The key differences between ETFs and mutual funds
  • How expense ratios and fees erode your investment returns over decades
  • When to choose an ETF vs a mutual fund for your portfolio

Lessons

1

What Are Mutual Funds?

Learn how pooled investing works, what NAV means, and how mutual funds are actively managed.

2

Index Funds Explained

Discover passive investing, how index funds track benchmarks, and why most active managers underperform.

3

ETFs vs Mutual Funds

Compare trading mechanics, tax efficiency, expense ratios, and when to choose each fund type.

4

Expense Ratios Matter

See how even small fee differences compound into massive costs over decades of investing.

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Key Terms

  • NAV: Net Asset Value, the per-share price of a fund
  • Expense Ratio: Annual fee as a percentage of assets
  • Index Fund: A fund that tracks a market benchmark
  • ETF: Exchange-Traded Fund, trades like a stock