Given the steep minimum investments many mutual funds insist upon, you may assume that you simply don't have enough money to take the plunge. True, some funds charge as much as $1 million to get a foot in the door, and plenty more require even thousands of dollars as an initial investment. But despite the prominence of those high-priced funds, plenty of others are much more inviting to cash-strapped investors.

Indeed, many funds have actually become moreaffordable in recent years. The folks at Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) recently lowered the minimum for all their stock index funds, and some of their managed stock funds, to just $100. I think most of us can scrape at least that much together. (Have you checked your sofa cushions?)

These are just a few of the funds offering good performance and low minimum investment requirements:

Fund

Minimum

10-Year Average Annual Return

Recent Top Holdings

FMI Common Stock (FMIMX)

$1,000

10.6%

PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM), Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO)

Heartland Select Value (HRSVX)

$1,000

9.8%

Walgreen (NYSE: WAG), Anadarko Petroleum

Nicholas Equity Income I (NSEIX)

$500

4.7%

Altria (NYSE: MO), AT&T (NYSE: T)

Amana Trust Income (AMANX) Continued...