---
title: Why You Should Invest in Plain-Vanilla Mutual Funds
description: Prof. Harold Pollack, co-author of 'The Index Card," explains why plain-vanilla mutual funds are the best flavor.
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published: '2016-05-03T10:30:23.000Z'
modified: '2016-05-03T10:30:23.000Z'
section: Investing
tags:
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  - Harold Pollack
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word_count: 109
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![harold pollack screen shot](https://img.money.com/2016/04/harold-pollack-screen-shot1.jpg)

Are you investing your retirement savings in mutual funds? Harold Pollack, co-author of *[The Index Card: Why Investing Doesn't Have to be Complicated](http://www.amazon.com/Index-Card-Personal-Finance-Complicated/dp/1591847680),* makes a case for why you should invest in broad-based index funds. A broad-based fund owns a large collection of securities, as opposed to a small slice of the market. An index fund's holding aren't determined by a portfolio manager making a bet on a particular part of the market, but a collection of securities designed to match the performance of the whole market. Broad-based index funds cost very little to buy into, and they don't have many of the risks that actively managed funds have.

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