Trim Funds
By Cybele Weisser

(MONEY Magazine) – Last year SHIRLEY AND MARK MERRYMAN were feeling weighed down by their 22 funds. Literally. "We practically got a book's worth of statements every quarter," says Mark, a computer-graphics specialist and musician in Centennial, Colo. who owned 15 Putnam funds in his IRA. The couple, both 46, consulted Denver financial planner Scott Wiley, who suggested switching to index funds. Management fees averaging 1.6% were the first problem. Putnam's involvement in the fund scandals cinched the deal. Mark's IRA is now in six low-cost Vanguard index funds; Shirley, an administrative assistant at a law firm, has her 401(k) in just one stock fund. --C.W.