One crucial ingredient for the investment portfolio pie?
               = Mutual funds (see that investment company, ydoncha)

The major beauty of mutual funds is the “set it / forget it” aspect BUT but must consider a few things …
… #1 being the “annual expense ratio” or AER, the yearly fee (paid by you) to run the fund, and
… #2 being the “sales charge” or “load,” which is the marketing/management expense (paid by you).

The AER is typically a percentage of the assets, and there are four types of “load”
(there’s those four horsemen again … detecting a theme here)
              1.  Front-end load:  pay a fee (only one!) when invest + AER / no add’l fee to withdraw
              2.  Back-end load:  pay@withdrawal (i.e., “surrender fee”) + ↑ AER that ↓ over time
              3.  Level load:  surrender fee in first 12 months + ↑ AER that stays high
              4.  No load:  + AER that starts ↑ & stays ↑

The major benefit of the “no-load” mutual fund?  Welp, “load” is just the marketing expense, and “no-load” funds tend to eliminate the broker and sell directly to the buyer/investor via ads and the internet.  The best explanation is given on p.195: 
              buying a load from a broker is the same as buying a plane ticket from a travel agent
              still going to the same place … just a matter of the service you pay to get there

Again, research is key, but the true beauty of mutual funds is pros do the important work,
while buyer/investor reaps the benefits … like a true luxury class parasite, which is the point. 

Ya?  All the ya.