I gave up on mutual funds years ago when it was disclosed in a market down year the average fund investor has lost $4K for the year and the fund managers had made damn near half a million! Then the great Obama declared me to be a one per center and took away my GM bond and gave it away. Chrysler bond holders did no better. Every investor must realize your broker, money/fund manager they are living off your money! I have been mildly successful investing only in dividend paying stocks and staying with them for long periods. Rule—dividend must equal or exceed inflation rate plus banks CD rate before considering company profitability.
I think you are very wise. I am settling an estate for a gentleman who used a similar strategy, and was similarly scalped by the GM debacle. Trying to wrench the funds from the brokers' grip, minus the fees and commissions is quite an education. I'll take the safety of CD's any day of the week from here on out, period.