Question about mutual funds and stocks

[dlubyhzm71]

I'd invested in a few mutual funds that were made up of municipal bonds through ML What I came to realize after a few months was that I was lucky if I made .1% interest on several thousands invested so I'd earn $6.00 or $4.00 a month and the fund would depreciate in value and these were described as high yield funds. Is that considered normal because it made no sense to me?

[dogMt]

Do muni bonds that you buy at say 5%, stay at that rate or do they fluctuate as well? If I invested 20k at 5% would I make 1K a year? That seems like a waste of time as well. Would I just be better off buying stocks of major companies like Proctor and Gamble, Costco, etc.?

[DonaldVes]

What kind of returns would they yield if I purchased 1k each? Thanks.

[Douglaspt]

Definitely understand what you're putting your hard-earned money in. This really goes for mutual funds.

[dpsohxjm15]

Stocks have historically yielded 7 or 8% overall. Nothing else has done as much. Even mutual funds made of stocks tend to lag behind due to management fees etc. So yeah... buy stocks. Keep in mind, you may have to weather some volatility.