485BPOS 2012-10-31 0000811968 2013-01-01 CAPITAL INCOME BUILDER false 2012-12-28 2013-01-01 <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 fund <br />shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in <br />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 68% of the average value of its portfolio.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/ExpenseExample_S000009000Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/BarChartData_S000009000Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>The fund has two primary investment objectives. It seeks (1) to provide you <br />with a level of current income that exceeds the average yield on U.S. stocks<br />generally and (2) to provide you with a growing stream of income over the years.</tt> <tt>This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in<br />the fund 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 <br />the fund's operating expenses remain the same.</tt> <tt>The fund normally will invest at least 90% of its assets in income-producing<br />securities (with at least 50% of its assets in common stocks and other equity<br />securities). The fund invests primarily in a broad range of income-producing<br />securities, including common stocks and bonds. In seeking to provide you with a<br />level of current income that exceeds the average yield on U.S. stocks, the fund<br />generally looks to the average yield on stocks of companies listed on the S&amp;P<br />500. The fund may also invest significantly in common stocks, bonds and other<br />securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States.<br />&#xA0;&#xA0;<br />The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio counselors in<br />managing the fund's assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is<br />divided into segments managed by individual counselors who decide how their<br />respective segments 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 securities <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> Capital Income Builder® <tt>The fund's secondary objective is to provide you with growth of capital.</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 Lipper Income Funds Average includes the fund and other funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to the fund's 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: 0.68 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. Calendar year total returns for Class A shares (Results do not include a sales charge; if a sales charge were included, results would be lower.) (Results do not include a sales charge; if a sales charge were included, results would be lower.) Investment results 25000 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 13.16% (quarter ended June 30, 2009)<br /><br />Lowest -14.29% (quarter ended December 31, 2008)<br /><br />The fund's total return for the nine months ended September 30, 2012,<br />was 10.44%.</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<br />stocks, bonds and other securities held by the fund may decline due to market<br />conditions and other factors, including those directly involving the issuers <br />of securities held 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 <br />be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. <br />In 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 /> <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. Lower quality debt securities generally<br />have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations<br />than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the<br />credit ratings of the securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are<br />only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as<br />to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk.<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 adverse political, social, economic or market developments<br />in the countries or regions in which the issuer operates. These securities may<br />also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the<br />U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Securities markets in certain<br />countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United<br />States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different<br />settlement and accounting practices and different regulatory, legal and<br />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 <br />heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.<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 <br />and analyses employed by the investment adviser in this process may not produce <br />the 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<br />guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other<br />governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund <br />fits into your overall investment 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 Lipper Income Funds Average includes the fund and other funds that<br />disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to the<br />fund's objective and/or strategies. Past investment results (before and after<br />taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Updated information on<br />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 61 of the fund's statement of<br />additional information.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/OperatingExpensesData_S000009000Member 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_S000009000Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_PerformanceMeasureAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <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> 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_S000009000Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>Class A annualized 30-day yield at October 31, 2012: 3.12% (For current yield <br />information, please call American FundsLine&#xAE; at 800/325-3590.)</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.americanfunds.com/role/ShareholderFeesData_S000009000Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> Lipper Income Funds Average (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees or U.S. federal income taxes) 0.0163 0.0250 0.0441 0.0822 1987-07-30 S&P 500 (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees, expenses or U.S. federal income taxes) 0.0209 -0.0025 0.0292 0.0822 1987-07-30 Share class A - After taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares -0.0135 -0.0058 0.0486 Share class A - After taxes on distributions -0.0382 -0.0135 0.0491 RIRGX 0 0.0000 Share class R-6 (before taxes) 33 103 406 180 0.0315 0.0007 0.0025 0.00 0.0000 0.0032 0.1345 2009-05-01 0.0000 CAIFX 0 0.0000 Share class F-2 (before taxes) 42 132 518 230 0.0304 0.0016 0.0025 0.00 0.0000 0.0041 0.0165 2008-08-01 0.0000 CIRFX 0 0.0000 Share class 529-F-1 (before taxes) 71 200 735 339 0.0298 0.0025 0.0025 0.0100 0.00 0.0000 0.0050 10 0.0742 2002-09-17 0.0000 CIREX 0 0.0000 Share class 529-E (before taxes) 118 345 1281 589 0.0251 0.0021 0.0025 0.0050 0.00 0.0050 0.0096 10 0.0631 2002-03-01 0.0000 CIRCX 0 0.0000 Share class 529-C (before taxes) 272 172 513 1890 876 0.0096 0.0025 0.0025 1890 -0.0002 513 876 0.00 0.0100 0.0150 10 0.0592 2002-02-20 0.0100 CIRBX 0 0.0000 Share class 529-B (before taxes) 673 173 916 1690 1081 -0.0298 0.0026 0.0025 1690 -0.0035 516 881 0.00 0.0100 0.0151 10 0.0602 2002-02-15 0.0500 CIRAX 0 0.0575 Share class 529-A (before taxes) 664 831 1523 1011 -0.0314 0.0025 0.0025 -0.0040 0.00 0.0022 0.0072 10 0.0616 2002-02-19 0.0100 CIBFX 0 0.0000 Share class F-1 (before taxes) 67 211 822 368 0.0281 0.0016 0.0025 0.0083 0.00 0.0025 0.0668 0.0066 0.0663 2001-03-15 0.0000 CIBCX 0 0.0000 Share class C (before taxes) 246 146 452 1713 782 0.0104 0.0018 0.0025 1713 0.0003 452 782 0.00 0.0100 0.0586 0.0143 0.0589 2001-03-15 0.0100 CIBBX 0 0.0000 Share class B (before taxes) 640 140 837 1452 955 -0.0288 0.0013 0.0025 1452 -0.0024 437 755 0.00 0.0100 0.0608 0.0138 0.0701 2000-03-15 0.0500 RIRFX 0 0.0000 Share class R-5 (before taxes) 37 116 456 202 0.0310 0.0011 0.0025 0.0110 0.00 0.0000 0.0036 0.0648 2002-05-15 0.0000 RIREX 0 0.0000 Share class R-4 (before taxes) 67 211 822 368 0.0278 0.0016 0.0025 0.0080 0.00 0.0025 0.0066 0.0616 2002-05-20 0.0000 RIRCX 0 0.0000 Share class R-3 (before taxes) 100 312 1201 542 0.0246 0.0023 0.0025 0.0049 0.00 0.0050 0.0098 0.0586 2002-06-04 0.0000 RIRBX 0 0.0000 Share class R-2 (before taxes) 144 446 1691 771 0.0202 0.0042 0.0025 0.0000 0.00 0.0074 0.0141 0.0530 2002-05-31 0.0000 RIRAX 0 0.0000 Share class R-1 (before taxes) 144 446 1691 771 0.0201 0.0016 0.0025 0.0005 0.00 0.0100 0.0141 0.0548 2002-06-11 0.0000 CAIBX 0.0066 0 Lowest Highest 0.0575 800/325-3590 2012-09-30 Share class A - Before taxes 636 2009-06-30 0.0312 765 -0.1429 0.1740 0.0865 1316 906 0.1067 0.1316 -0.0305 0.0014 -0.3006 0.0025 2008-12-31 0.2063 -0.0033 0.0494 The fund's total return for the nine months ended 0.0286 0.00 0.2157 Class A annualized 30-day yield at October 31, 2012: 0.0024 0.0611 0.0063 0.2204 0.0930 1987-07-30 0.1044 0.0100 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024463Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024464Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024465Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024466Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024467Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024468Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024469Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024470Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024471Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024472Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024473Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024474Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024475Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000024476Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000068596Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:C000077881Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMemberck0000811968:C000024463Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMemberck0000811968:C000024463Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:RRINDEX00001Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Memberck0000811968:RRINDEX00002Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 ck0000811968:SummaryS000009000Memberck0000811968:S000009000Member 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 0000811968 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 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.