485BPOS 2012-07-31 0000050013 2012-10-01 INCOME FUND OF AMERICA false 2012-09-28 2012-10-01 <tt>The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells <br />securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate <br />may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when <br />fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected <br />in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's investment <br />results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate <br />was 41% of the average value of its portfolio.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/ExpenseExample_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/BarChartData_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>The fund's investment objectives are to provide you with current income</tt> <tt>This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund <br />with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.<br /><br />The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods<br />indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The<br />example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the<br />fund's operating expenses remain the same.</tt> <tt>Normally the fund invests primarily in income-producing securities. These include <br />equity securities, such as dividend-paying common stocks, and debt securities, <br />such as interest-paying bonds.<br /> <br />Generally at least 60% of the fund's assets will be invested in common stocks and <br />other equity-type securities. However, the composition of the fund's investments <br />in equity, debt and cash or money market instruments may vary substantially <br />depending on various factors, including market conditions. The fund may also invest <br />up to 25% of its assets in equity securities of issuers domiciled outside the United <br />States, including issuers in emerging and developing countries. In addition, the <br />fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in lower quality, higher yielding <br />nonconvertible debt securities (rated Ba1 and BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized <br />Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund's investment adviser or <br />unrated but determined to be of equivalent quality by the fund's investment adviser). <br />Such securities are sometimes referred to as "junk bonds." The fund may also invest <br />up to 10% of its assets in debt securities of issuers domiciled outside the United <br />States; however, these securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars.<br /> <br />The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio counselors in managing <br />the fund's assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into <br />segments managed by individual counselors who decide how their respective segments <br />will be invested.<br /> <br />The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make<br />decisions about the fund's portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy <br />of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively valued companies <br />that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. The <br />investment adviser believes that an important way to accomplish this is through <br />fundamental analysis, which may include meeting with company executives and <br />employees, suppliers, customers and competitors. Securities may be sold when the <br />investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive <br />investment opportunities.</tt> The Income Fund of America® <tt>while secondarily striving for capital growth.</tt> You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in American Funds. Example After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during each year of the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Investment objectives Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index is a gauge of the U.S. investment-grade bond market and reflects a portion of the fixed-income securities in which the fund may invest. The Lipper Income Funds Index includes some of the largest funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies that are reasonably comparable to the fund's income objective and/or strategies. You may lose money by investing in the fund. Principal risks Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 0.41 Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and likely will differ from the results shown above. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-favored arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, individual retirement account (IRA) or 529 college savings plan. Calender year total returns for Class A shares (Results do not include a sales charge; if a sales charge were included, resultls would be lower.) (Results do not include a sales charge; if a sales charge were included, resultls would be lower.) Investment results 25000 <tt>After-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares; after-tax returns for other<br />share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using the highest<br />individual federal income tax rates in effect during each year of the periods<br />shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual<br />after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and likely will differ<br />from the results shown above. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if<br />you hold your fund shares through a tax-favored arrangement, such as a 401(k)<br />plan, individual retirement account (IRA) or 529 college savings plan.</tt> The following bar chart shows how the fund's investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund's average annual total returns for various periods compare with different broad measures of market results. <tt>Highest/Lowest quarterly results during this period were:<br /><br />Highest&#xA0;&#xA0;14.13% (quarter ended September 30, 2009)<br /><br />Lowest&#xA0;&#xA0;-15.43% (quarter ended December 31, 2008)<br /><br />The Fund's total return for the six month ended <br />June 30, 2012, was 5.57%.</tt> Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Average annual total returns For the periods ended December 31, 2011 (with maximum sales charge): <tt>The following bar chart shows how the fund's investment results have varied from<br />year to year, and the following table shows how the fund's average annual total<br />returns for various periods compare with different broad measures of market<br />results.</tt> Portfolio turnover <tt>This section describes the principal risks associated with the fund's principal<br />investment strategies. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The<br />likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.<br />Investors in the fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to<br />tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.<br /> <br />Market conditions - The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks <br />and other securities held by the fund may decline due to market conditions and <br />other factors, including those directly involving the issuers of securities held <br />by the fund.<br /> <br />Investing in income-oriented stocks - Income provided by the fund may be reduced<br />by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at,<br />the companies in which the fund invests.<br /> <br />Investing in bonds - Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of<br />bonds and other debt securities to fall. Longer maturity debt securities may be<br />subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. In<br />addition, falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or<br />refinance a security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund<br />having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities.<br />&#xA0;&#xA0;<br />Bonds and other debt securities are subject to credit risk, which is the<br />possibility that the credit strength of an issuer will weaken and/or an issuer<br />of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest<br />and the security will go into default.<br /><br />Investing in lower rated bonds - Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt<br />securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of<br />default or price declines due to changes in the issuer's creditworthiness than<br />those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities<br />may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may<br />decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may<br />be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.<br /> <br />Investing outside the United States - Securities of issuers domiciled outside<br />the United States, or with significant operations outside the United States, may<br />lose value because of political, social, economic or market developments or<br />instability in the countries or regions in which the issuer operates. These<br />securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates<br />against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Securities markets<br />in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the<br />United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to<br />different settlement and accounting practices and different regulatory, legal<br />and reporting standards, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the<br />United States. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened <br />in connection with investments in emerging and developing countries.<br /> <br />Management - The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund's<br />investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and<br />analyses employed by the investment adviser in this process may not produce the<br />desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment<br />results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.<br /> <br />Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed <br />by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, <br />entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment <br />program.</tt> Fees and expenses of the fund After-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares; after-tax returns for other share classes will vary. Principal investment strategies americanfunds.com <tt>The following bar chart shows how the fund's investment results have varied from<br />year to year, and the following table shows how the fund's average annual total<br />returns for various periods compare with different broad measures of market<br />results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in<br />the fund. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index is a gauge of the U.S. investment-grade <br />bond market and reflects a portion of the fixed-income securities in which the fund <br />may invest. The Lipper Income Funds Index includes some of the largest funds that <br />disclose investment objectives and/or strategies that are reasonably comparable to <br />the fund's income objective and/or strategies. Past investment results (before and <br />after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Updated information <br />on the fund's investment results can be obtained by visiting americanfunds.com.</tt> <tt>This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold<br />shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your<br />family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in American<br />Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your<br />financial professional and in the "Sales charge reductions and waivers" section<br />on page 27 of the prospectus and on page 65 of the fund's statement of<br />additional information.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/OperatingExpensesData_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> For the share classes listed below, you would pay the following if you did not redeem your shares: <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/PerformanceTableData_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_PerformanceMeasureAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/ExpenseExampleNoRedemption_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/ShareholderFeesData_S000008814Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> Lipper Income Funds Index (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees or taxes) 0.0198 0.0278 0.0460 Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees, expenses or taxes) 0.0784 0.0650 0.0578 S&P 500 (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees, expenses or taxes) 0.0209 -0.0025 0.0292 0.1037 1973-12-01 A - After taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares 0.0023 0.0000 0.0430 A - After taxes on distributions -0.0136 -0.0068 0.0429 RIDGX 0 0.0000 R-6 - Before taxes 31 97 381 169 0.0594 0.0006 0.0024 0.00 0.0000 0.0030 0.1705 2009-05-01 0.0000 AMEFX 0 0.0000 F-2 - Before taxes 41 128 505 224 0.0577 0.0016 0.0024 0.00 0.0000 0.0040 0.0484 2008-08-01 0.0000 CIMFX 0 0.0000 529-F-1 - Before taxes 67 187 686 317 0.0573 0.0022 0.0024 0.0181 0.00 0.0000 0.0046 10 0.0761 2002-09-17 0.0000 CIMEX 0 0.0000 529-E - Before taxes 115 336 1247 573 0.0523 0.0019 0.0024 0.0131 0.00 0.0050 0.0093 10 0.0590 2002-02-25 0.0000 CIMCX 0 0.0000 529-C - Before taxes 269 169 504 1857 860 0.0369 0.0023 0.0024 1857 0.0079 504 860 0.00 0.0100 0.0147 10 0.0548 2002-02-19 0.0100 CIMBX 0 0.0000 529-B - Before taxes 669 169 904 1645 1060 -0.0037 0.0023 0.0024 1645 0.0046 504 860 0.00 0.0100 0.0147 10 0.0562 2002-02-19 0.0500 CIMAX 0 0.0575 529-A - Before taxes 660 819 1478 991 -0.0058 0.0022 0.0024 0.0041 0.00 0.0022 0.0068 10 0.0561 2002-02-15 0.0100 IFAFX 0 0.0000 F-1 - Before taxes 65 205 798 357 0.0554 0.0015 0.0024 0.0164 0.00 0.0025 0.0615 0.0064 0.0610 2001-03-15 0.0000 IFACX 0 0.0000 C - Before taxes 240 140 437 1657 755 0.0379 0.0014 0.0024 1657 0.0086 437 755 0.00 0.0100 0.0534 0.0138 0.0535 2001-03-15 0.0100 IFABX 0 0.0000 B - Before taxes 636 136 825 1407 934 -0.0018 0.0010 0.0024 1407 0.0059 425 734 0.00 0.0100 0.0557 0.0134 0.0638 2000-03-15 0.0500 RIDFX 0 0.0000 R-5 - Before taxes 36 113 443 197 0.0582 0.0011 0.0024 0.0191 0.00 0.0000 0.0035 0.0622 2002-05-15 0.0000 RIDEX 0 0.0000 R-4 - Before taxes 66 208 810 362 0.0551 0.0016 0.0024 0.0160 0.00 0.0025 0.0065 0.0658 2002-06-27 0.0000 RIDCX 0 0.0000 R-3 - Before taxes 98 306 1178 531 0.0520 0.0022 0.0024 0.0129 0.00 0.0050 0.0096 0.0575 2002-06-04 0.0000 RIDBX 0 0.0000 R-2 - Before taxes 143 443 1680 766 0.0469 0.0042 0.0024 0.0079 0.00 0.0074 0.0140 0.0513 2002-05-31 0.0000 RIDAX 0 0.0000 R-1 - Before taxes 143 443 1680 766 0.0474 0.0016 0.0024 0.0085 0.00 0.0100 0.0140 0.0547 2002-06-17 0.0000 AMECX -0.0438 0 Lowest Highest 0.0575 800/325-3590 2012-06-30 A - Before taxes 632 2009-09-30 0.0326 753 -0.1543 0.1292 0.1197 1270 885 0.0377 0.1413 -0.0049 0.0011 -0.2885 0.0024 2008-12-31 0.2451 0.0048 0.0341 The fund's total return 0.0558 0.00 0.2527 Class A annualized 30-day yield at July 31, 2012: 3.26% (For current yield information, please call American FundsLine® at 800/325-3590.) 0.0024 0.0559 0.0059 0.2029 0.1107 1973-12-01 0.0557 0.0100 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023985Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023986Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023987Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023988Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023989Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023990Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023991Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023992Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023993Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023994Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023995Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023996Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023997Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000023998Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000068581Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:C000077898Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMemberck0000050013:C000023985Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMemberck0000050013:C000023985Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:RRINDEX00001Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:RRINDEX00002Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Memberck0000050013:RRINDEX00003Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 ck0000050013:SummaryS000008814Memberck0000050013:S000008814Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000050013 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 pure iso4217:USD A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% applies on certain redemptions within one year following purchases of $1 million or more made without an initial sales charge.