Although everyone has their own inputs to give on what mutual funds you should invest in, it is safe to say that finding yourself the ideal mutual fund guide right at the onset of your investments should be one of your priorities. This guide could be an individual, a website or a magazine. And along with giving you feedback and advice on your preferences, it should also be able to give you some amount of criticism and analysis across different funds.

A Financial Expert

Using a financial expert as a mutual fund guide is always a good idea as it allows for two-way communication. You ask the questions and he or she steers you in the right direction. If they don't have the answers, then they might at least show you where to find the information you need or even direct you to other experts whom they call friends or acquaintances. While finding a good financial expert is not that difficult, you do have to be prepared to pay a tidy sum in the form of advisory fees, unless, of course, the expert is an acquaintance or family member who is willing to play the role of your advisor for free.

A Financial Website

Using a website or a blog as a mutual fund guide is a good idea as the information is more likely to be current. You can also communicate with the experts providing the information through email or by posting your comments on the site. The good thing about using these is that the portal is open to people across the world, which helps you gain access to a large group with similar interests and perhaps even similar questions. This therefore creates a platform for people to engage and debate on topics that might directly relate to your portfolio and those that provide you with useful insights to mutual funds at large. However, the only downside of using a website as a mutual fund guide is that, being an open portal, one might not be able to check the validity of all the information and the comments posted online. You would therefore need to use some amount of discretion in terms of what you think applicable as well as what you should avoid considering.

A Financial Magazine

Now these magazines don't always allow for quick and prompt two-way communication between the publishing team and the readers. But because of the time, effort and expense involved in getting it printed, the information is more likely to be valid than financial websites. This however is a broad generalization that should not be taken at face value; it would vary from case to case. But you can be sure that these magazines have useful inputs and therefore should definitely be considered as important mutual fund guide.