Steven --- I wouldn't put 50 cents into a Fund...
Funds are just fees for management... there's not a single reason in the whole wide world that a semi intelligent individual can't do every bit as well as any fund and should do considerably better. A fund is just a dumbed down blended basket of stocks... sadly -- in their effort to be broad based... the laggards drag down the performance of the top. While the "Top 10 Holdings" are usually stellar --- they're only the top 10 and the fund probably has 100 or more holdings. It's those that dumb down their returns.
When you factor in their mediocre returns -- and then compound what they're fees do to YOUR returns over time - it's astounds me that anyone in invested in them. It's just that they are "available" via retirement IRA's for most folks -- they pick them by throwing a dart at a list -- and then work for 30 years and wonder what the hell happened to all the money they put in.
If a person can buy or build their own little basket of stocks --- 10 minimum and 20 tops... you can kick some azz all on your own just by buying the best of breed stuff we discuss here so often. It isn't rocket science that's for sure.