'DIY' money-market funds

I read your previous article on "some ideas on investing for short-term income" in money-market funds. When I went to [blank] Savings and Loan, they couldn't believe what you had written. I wound up buying a $1,000 certificate of deposit at 7.95 percent. They said your article was "impossible." Please clarify what you said. L.H.

Money-market mutual funds offer competition to regulated saving and loan associations and banks. When interest rates are high, as they are now, the money-market funds can and do offer more income from invested funds. But they are not insured and do carry some risk, which is more acceptable for the additional income.

However, you cannot invest in money- market funds at a bank or S&L. These no- load money-market funds are do-it-your- self (DIY) investments. You must locate the funds, complete the application, and send your money off to the trustee bank yourself. Completing the application is simple, but a clerk is not available to do it for you. You can write or all toll free for a prospectus and application blank to the funds that advertise in this newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, and others. Or write to the No-Load Mutual Fund Association, Valley Forge, PA 19481, for a list of money-market funds.