THE CAREER YOU CHOOSE NOW WILL have a big effect on the rest of your life, determining things like where you will live, who you will spend your time with and, obviously, how much money you will make. This is a very important decision and deserves to be taken seriously. The fact that you are taking the time to read this report says you are probably on the right track.Making money is an important part of any career. Even if money is not your primary motivation, it is important because it will allow you to do the things you want to do, whether it is something optional like take a nice vacation or something dutiful like pay the rent or send a child to college. Helping other people to make money is a great way to make your own. Investment fund managers create the products that regular people invest their money in to make more money. Their work is central to the life-planning process of millions of people. Investment fund managers help people to save for retirement, to buy homes, send their kids to college and achieve financial freedom. Without them, most people would simply stash their money in a bank and earn a tiny rate of interest. Investment fund managers help people to put their money to work.Demand for investment fund managers is always healthy, although in recent years computers have started to do more of the work once assigned to humans. Most investors, however, want to know that a real person is at the helm of their investment vehicles, making trained professionals more important than ever. Investment fund managers are the brains behind a variety of investments, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds and private equity funds. For the most part, investment fund managers work behind the scenes and rarely meet the people who buy their products. Portfolio managers do the same work, but usually for private clients. The best fund managers achieve actual star power in the investment world and their reputations help to sell their products.