Wait and they will come. Luxury options that appear first in the highest-end homes, stores and cars -- think granite countertops, designer housewares and GPS systems -- before too long trickle down to the cookie-cutter houses, the discount department stores and the mass-production autos. So why shouldn't the same thing be true in financial services? Hedge funds, those secretive, unregulated pools of money that use exotic strategies to capture (they hope) outsize returns have been a vehicle strictly for the well-heeled. In fact, you're supposed to have at least $200,000 in annual income or a million bucks to invest before hedge funds will even look at you. Well, not anymore. With some outfits now letting you in with as little as a $25,000 investment, and with more funds and the advisers that peddle them willing to wink-wink at the qualifying rules, the hedge fund has gone slumming. The problem is that even though the hoi polloi can now get at them, most folks still have no idea just what hedge funds are. In our lead story, Sophisticated Investor Thomas Kostigen looks at the hedge-fund trends and explains why so many more folks are likely to be investing in them in the coming years. Read his column, plus check out the latest forecast for where mortgage rates will be headed in the next year or two and find out why more people are being forced to choose between paying for health benefits and contributing to retirement plans, on Wednesday's Personal Finance pages. If hedge funds have lost their cachet, where will the rich turn for an investment that can call their own again? Wherever it is, don't worry. You, too, will be buying it in five years. Steve Kerch, assistant managing editor/personal finance INVESTINGHedge funds fall from elite status Hedge funds are mainstream. Once fanciful fodder for cocktail conversation and ego-driven symbols of whose portfolio is bigger, hedge funds have joined the ranks of Joe Sixpack. See Sophisticated Investor.Lagging bargain-buyers now getting boost from unlikely sector The stocks were anything but priced to perfection, and that created a perfect buying opportunity for a thrifty investor like Bill Nygren. The Oakmark Fund manager found in these businesses what he always looks for: Above-average earnings, sector leadership and strong cash flow, with shares selling at a discount to Nygren's estimate of the company's future growth and market value. "Cheap" doesn't usually describe technology stocks, so Nygren was clearly struck when his cost-conscious investment discipline led him to become a shareholder of Intel Corp. and Dell Inc. But the tech-wreck that followed the dot-com boom crushed stock valuations for the sector and, in time, bottom-feeding buyers starting sniffing around. See Mutual Understanding.Can big-cap techs extend their rally? If I told you in early August that you could make a 40% return on your money in less than three months time, you might have thought I'd begun shilling for a pyramid marketing scheme. See John Shinal's Tech Investor.Putnam Investors manager likes Capital One, Commerce Bancorp, Staples Putnam Investors Fund has been bulking up on names in the financial and consumer cyclical sectors. Over the past year, the fund moved more of its assets into those markets, hoping to capitalize on fears that a slump in the housing cycle would affect credit quality and consumer spending, said Jim Wiess, co-manager of the $4 billion portfolio that invests much of its money into big-cap stocks. See The Stock Pickers.HEALTH CAREConcern about costs drives dissatisfaction with health care Health-care costs are increasingly vying with retirement contributions for a piece of the household budget. More than a third of Americans squeezed by higher medical costs say they've reduced their contributions to retirement and other savings accounts in response. See Vital Signs.Three ways to cut your medical bills A visit to the doctor is not typically a sought-after experience. And that's before you have to pay the bill. It's no secret that health-care costs are on the rise. According to Money magazine, the average out-of-pocket medical costs for employees doubled between 2000 and 2005. But you shouldn't have to skip a necessary visit to the dentist, doctor or hospital just because it's expensive. Money offers these tips on reducing your bills: See Marshall Loeb's Daily Money Tip.