IN THIS SEASON OF

spending, we have a rather intimate question to ask you: How's your savings strategy going?

For most folks, it's not so hot. According to the latest Personal Income and Outlays report issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the national savings rate has fallen to a miniscule 0.2% the second-lowest level on record. That means a lot of people not only aren't saving much they aren't saving at all, notes Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.

The reasons for Americans' poor savings habits are myriad. In recent years, many people have become complacent about savings as debt particularly mortgage debt has become increasingly cheap and easy to obtain. (Why pinch pennies, they might ask themselves, when I could take out a home-equity loan on my house, and write off the interest, to boot?) Other people, meanwhile, would like to be good savers, but find themselves living paycheck to paycheck. And there's a more insidious force at work here: Many Americans have become addicted to instant gratification, says Sue Stevens, director of financial planning at investment-research firm Morningstar, and are thus happy to put off saving until tomorrow if it means they can buy things today.

Whatever the reason, poor savings habits are hardly a recipe for financial security. So why not start off the New Year with a resolution to buck the trend? The easiest way to do that is to sign up for an Automatic Investment Plan (AIP) with your favorite mutual fund company. With these plans, you arrange to have automatic withdrawals taken from your checking or savings account and invested into your mutual fund or funds of choice. Many fund families will even sweeten the pot by lowering their traditional minimum investment requirements, making this a great way for young investors to get started. At T. Rowe Price, for example, automatic investors need a mere $50 to start with the AIP program, compared with the $2,500 minimum initial investment requirement that the fund family typically requires. Funds can be deposited into a taxable account or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). (Today's screen focuses on taxable investments; folks interested in IRA investing should click here

"It's one of the most important things you can do to have a successful investing life," says Stevens. Automatic-Investment Plans force investors to practice dollar-cost-averaging, which avoids the risk of buying all at once, at peak prices. (Investing in a 401(k) employs the same strategy.) It also locks a savings strategy in place, notes Michelle A. Smith, managing director of the Mutual Fund Education Alliance, a not-for-profit trade organization. Since the money is whisked away automatically, it can't be spent elsewhere.

One note of caution: If you decide to invest in an AIP via a taxable account, be sure to keep the paperwork that reflects at what price you bought your shares, says Stevens. (This should be provided in your year-end statement.) This will be essential when it comes time to sell your shares and you need to figure out your tax hit. (For more on mutual funds and taxes, click here

If you invest directly with a no-load mutual-fund company, you shouldn't be charged any fees for the program. If you invest through a fund supermarket, however, you might be charged a small fee, says Stevens, so be sure to ask.

The Criteria
For today's screen, we've compiled a list of the AIP programs offered by the 10 biggest no-load fund families, based on total net assets held in equity no-load funds (as of Nov. 30, 2004), as determined by Lipper. This list certainly isn't exhaustive. If your favorite fund family isn't on the list, you can use our to locate the necessary contact information. (Click on the "purchase info." tab).