A few words ....on Mutual Fund Investments......

Ultimate destination of mutual funds are -->
1. Equity Funds.
2. Debt Funds.
3. Balanced Funds.

• Equity funds are mainly equity shares or equity stocks. Here risk is more cf. to other avenues, but produces better return amongst all. If funds are invested in a planned way. (NO RISK NO GAIN).
• Debt funds basically includes governmental & non-governmental debt-papers, mortgage papers. Here risk is less than equity funds (shares, debentures). At the same time return is not huge like equity funds.
• Balanced funds are those funds where there is a combination of equity funds as well as debt-funds. Here the funds are invested according to the risk-profile of equity funds as well as debt funds. Here risk & return both are average. This can be more secured & safer destination of various mutual funds.
• For short-term maturity period one-time investment can be a good choice. But for long-term (may be for 3 yrs or more) maturity period, SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) can be the best choice I think. Because here you need to pay premiums at a regular intervals as per your investment-policy rules. Here the investment is distributed in order to minimize the load of paying heavy amount at a time. Investment payments are made in an arranged risk-return ratio.