First, think about how long you plan to stay invested, your financial needs, and how much risk—or price fluctuation—you could tolerate. Consider how much of your investment mix should be in stocks, bonds, and short-term investments to give you a suitable level of risk and return potential. Finally, pick a diversified mix of investments.

Active investors are said to always be looking for an advantage: new information, a new perspective, or a new strategy that can help boost investing returns. There is one place you can get an advantage that comes with certainty—if you pay less to execute your investment strategy, you will improve your bottom line. That's why taking steps to reduce your fees may be among the easiest and most effective ways to improve your investment performance, particularly for active investors who regularly make changes to their portfolio.

"It pays for investors to seek out value," says Ram Subramaniam, head of brokerage and investment solutions at Fidelity. "If you can get quality service, research resources, and the trade execution you need for a lower cost, it can help improve your performance and ensure that more of your return ends up in your pocket."

"The cloud" may have entered people's collective consciousness several years ago, but it's not a trend that's over. In fact, one Fidelity manager says it could continue to reshape technology infrastructure for many years.

"Cloud computing is helping tech-savvy companies scale up their disruptive business plans quickly, which is why it isn't going away anytime soon," says Ali Khan, analyst for Fidelity® Disruptive Technology Fund (FTEKX) and co-sector leader of the technology team.

The fund invests in innovative business models, emerging industries, and technologies that the investment team believes have the potential to disrupt or displace incumbents over time.

As Khan explains, growing companies want to focus on business plans that can take market share, rather than buying hardware and software and building data centers.

For this reason, most newer firms house all or most of their tech infrastructure in the cloud. The...

Fidelity's rule of thumb: Aim to save at least 15% of your pre-tax income each year for retirement. The good news: This 15% goal includes any contributions you may get from your employer. Remember: Your personal target saving rate may vary depending on a variety of factors, including when you plan to retire, your retirement lifestyle, when you started saving, and how much you've already saved.

In any given year, the best performing stock market is usually outside the US. International diversification has historically improved risk-adjusted returns. History suggest that actively managed funds may offer potential outperformance in international markets.

Will is dedicated to the long-term benefits of active management. During his nearly 30-year manager tenure, the Fidelity® Contrafund® (FCNTX) has averaged an incredible 13.39% annualized average return, more than 3% greater than the annual returns from the benchmark S&P 500 Index.*

The Fidelity Contrafund is an actively managed domestic equity fund that seeks long-term growth of capital and can be an appropriate core equity holding for investors seeking broad exposure to companies we think have "best-of-breed" qualities and are underappreciated by other investors. This includes companies that have shown a strong competitive position, high returns on capital, and solid free cash flow generation, as well as management teams that have been stewards of shareholder capital.

Market corrections occur, so staying the course with a skilled manager may benefit shareholders over the long term.