• Investing internationally is a good strategymoney money money image by Tribalstar from Fotolia.com
  
  When it comes to investing it is important to not put all your eggs in the same basket. That means using a mixture of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market accounts and fixed income investments. It also means looking outside the borders of your own country for investment ideas. Investing in the international market can be an excellent way to grow your wealth and profit from the success of companies and countries around the world.
  
  

U.S. Stocks with International Exposure

• These days even domestic companies operate in a global marketplace, and there are a number of U.S. companies that derive a large percentage of their earnings from their operations around the world. Companies like Proctor and Gamble, General Electric and Caterpillar operate around the world, and investing in one or more such companies can be an excellent way to profit from the growth of their overseas operations.
  
  

International Mutual Funds

• Mutual funds can be an excellent way to invest in both the domestic and the international stock markets. Mutual funds pool the money of many small investors and use the money to purchase a widely diversified basket of stocks--far more stocks than the individual investor could afford to buy. This spreads the risk of investing and reduces specific stock risk.
  
  When investing internationally it is a good idea to look closely at the expenses associated with the fund. Choosing an international index fund is a low cost option. These funds simply purchase all the stocks in a given index, like the widely tracked FTSE, or Financial Times Stock Exchange, index.
  
  

International ETFs

• Exchange traded funds are an interesting way to invest in the international stock market as well. Like mutual funds, ETFs hold a large number of stocks, but unlike mutual funds ETFs can be bought and sold throughout the trading day just like stocks. This allows investors to take advantage of fast moving markets and set limit prices for buying and selling. There are widely diversified ETFs that invest in indexes like the FTSE, and there are more specialized ETFs that invest in a single country or a particular part of the world.