People can tell you how to save money getting a picture framed, buying a stuffed moose head, or taking a pilgrimage to Lourdes. But today, we're going to find out how to save money when you buy a mutual fund.

Most people buy mutual funds through a third party: a stockbroker, a financial planner or even a company 401(k) plan. How you buy your fund will determine how much you pay for it.

If you buy through a broker, you'll have a dizzying choice of ways to make your purchase. "Dizzying" is a bad word when used in conjunction with any financial decision. Let's make the choices a bit clearer.

First, we're talking about traditional stockbrokers here, the type who work by commission. And all mutual funds charge annual expenses, which go to defray the costs of running the fund: rent, salaries and hushed, wood-paneled reception rooms. Those expenses are subtracted from the fund's assets.

But when you buy a fund from a broker, you also pay a commission. Brokers, like anyone else, like to be paid for their services. Broker-sold funds come in several different share classes. The only difference between the share classes is how the broker gets paid. The three basic share classes:

*A shares charge a percentage of your purchase upfront as a commission, called a "load." The load could be as high as 8.5%, although such a high commission is virtually unheard of these days. You're more likely to see loads of 5% or so on stock funds and 4% on bond funds. The Growth Fund of America, the largest broker-sold fund, charges a maximum 5.75% load on its A shares.

*B shares have no upfront loads but charge higher ongoing fees than A shares for about six years. During this period, you'll also pay a declining sales charge when you sell: 5% the first year, 4% the second, and so on. Eventually, the sales charge goes away, and in most cases, the B shares become lower-cost A shares. Putnam Growth Opportunities B, for example, charges 2.03% in annual expenses, vs. 1.3% for its A shares. You'll get hit with a 5% back-end load if you sell in the first year. The back-end load declines by 1 percentage point a year and vanishes in year six. In year eight, the fund becomes an A share.

*C shares have no upfront loads but charge higher ongoing fees until the Last Trumpet sounds.

Whatever share class you buy, your broker gets paid. If your broker presents B or C class shares to you as no-load funds, he's not telling you the truth.

Which share class should you choose? The answer depends on how long you hold your funds. Over long periods, C shares produce lower returns because they have higher fees than A shares -- even though you pay no upfront commission with C shares. In the short term, A and B shares will return less than C shares.

Avoid B shares when possible. Many fund companies have stopped issuing them.

Most fund companies reduce their loads for larger purchases. Growth Fund of America, for example, drops its load to 5% if you invest more than $24,999. You can get these breakpoints if you:

*Own several different funds within the same fund family. For example, if you own other American Funds, your other holdings count toward the breakpoint on new purchases. If you have $100,000 with a fund family and your children decide to invest with the same fund family, you may be able to combine accounts and get breakpoints.

*You sign a letter of intent, saying you plan to purchase enough of a fund within 13 months to reach a breakpoint.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, offers a good tool for analyzing the effect of breakpoints and loads at www.finra.org.

You can, of course, buy funds with no loads at all through dozens of no-load mutual fund families, such as Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard. You won't get a broker's advice, but most funds have excellent online and educational material.

And even with no-load funds, expenses matter. All things being equal, choose the fund with the lowest expenses. Use your savings for the things that matter to you, like that pilgrimage to Lourdes.

John Waggoner's column appears Fridays. E-mail: jwaggoner@usatoday.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/jwaggoner. (c) Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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