MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund (Prospectus Summary) | MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund

MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks current income exempt from regular federal income tax.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and
hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and
your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the
MainStay Funds. This amount may vary depending on the MainStay Fund in which you
invest. More information about these and other discounts is available from your
financial professional and in the "Information on Sales Charges" section starting
on page 94 of the Prospectus and in the "Alternative Sales Arrangements"  section
on page 104 of the Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund	Investor Class		Class A		Class B	Class C	Class I
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	4.50%		4.50%		none	none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the original offering price or redemption proceeds)	none	[1]	none	[1]	5.00%	1.00%	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund		Investor Class		Class A		Class B	Class C	Class I
Management Fees (as an annual percentage of the Fund's average daily net assets)	[1]	0.52%		0.52%		0.52%	0.52%	0.52%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees		0.25%	[2]	0.25%	[2]	0.50%	0.50%	none
Other Expenses		0.21%		0.12%		0.21%	0.21%	0.12%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	[1][3]	0.98%		0.89%		1.23%	1.23%	0.64%
Waivers / Reimbursements	[1][3]	(0.07%)		(0.07%)		(0.07%)	(0.07%)	(0.07%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Waivers / Reimbursements	[1][3]	0.91%		0.82%		1.16%	1.16%	0.57%

Example

The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund
with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you
invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of
your shares at the end of those periods (except as indicated with respect to
Class B and Class C shares). The Example reflects Class B shares converting into
Investor Class shares in years 9-10; fees could be lower if you are eligible to
convert to Class A shares instead. The Example also assumes that your investment
has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the
same.

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund (USD $)	Investor Class	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class I
Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year	539	530	618	218	58
Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years	741	714	683	383	198
Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years	961	914	869	669	350
Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years	1,591	1,491	1,413	1,482	792

Expense Example, No Redemption MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund (USD $)	Class B	Class C
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year	118	118
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years	383	383
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years	669	669
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years	1,413	1,482

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities
(or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher
transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in
the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 138% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets
plus borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds that are rated investment
grade by at least one independent rating agency (i.e., within the highest four quality
ratings by Moody's Investor Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), Standard & Poor's or Fitch Ratings).
On average, the Fund will invest in municipal bonds that have a maturity range of 10 to
30 years. Municipal bonds are issued by or on behalf of the District of Columbia, states,
territories, commonwealths and possessions of the United States and their political
subdivisions and agencies, authorities and instrumentalities. The Fund may invest up to
20% of its net assets in unrated securities deemed by MacKay Shields LLC, the Fund's
Subadvisor, to be of comparable quality. The Fund may not invest more than 20% of its
net assets in tax-exempt securities subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. If
independent rating agencies assign different ratings to the same security, the Fund will
use the higher rating for purposes of determining the security's credit quality.

The Fund may also invest more than 25% of its total assets in municipal bonds that are
related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change
affecting one such security could also affect the other securities (for example,
securities whose issuers are located in the same state). Some of the Fund's earnings
may be subject to federal tax and most may be subject to state and local taxes.

The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures, options and swap agreements to
try to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss of (hedge) certain of its
holdings.

Investment Process: The Subadvisor employs a relative value research-driven approach to
achieve the Fund's objective. The Subadvisor's strategies include duration management,
sector allocation, yield curve positioning and buy/sell trade execution. The Subadvisor
may engage in various portfolio strategies to achieve the Fund's investment objective,
to seek to enhance the Fund's investment return and to seek to hedge the portfolio
against adverse effects from movements in interest rates and in the securities markets.

The Subadvisor uses active management in an effort to identify mispriced tax-exempt
securities and build a consistent yield advantage. The Subadvisor focuses on reducing
volatility through a disciplined investment process which includes fundamental, "bottom-
up" credit research and risk management. In addition, the Subadvisor reviews macroeconomic
events, technicals in the municipal market, tax policies, as well as analyzes individual
municipal securities and sectors.

The Subadvisor may sell a security if it no longer believes the security will contribute to
meeting the investment objective of the Fund. In considering whether to sell a security,
the Subadvisor may evaluate, among other things, the condition of the economy and meaningful
changes in the issuer's financial condition.

Principal Risks

Loss of Money Risk: Before considering an investment in the Fund, you should
understand that you could lose money.

Market Changes Risk: The value of the Fund's investments may change because of
broad changes in the markets in which the Fund invests, which could cause the
Fund to underperform other funds with similar objectives. From time to time,
markets may experience periods of acute stress that may result in increased
volatility. Such market conditions tend to add significantly to the risk of
short-term volatility in the net asset value of the Fund's shares.

Management Risk: The investment strategies, practices and risk analysis used by
the Fund's Subadvisor may not produce the desired results.

Debt Securities Risk: The risks of investing in debt securities include (without
limitation): (i) credit risk, i.e., the issuer may not repay the loan created by
the issuance of that debt security; (ii) maturity risk, i.e., a debt security
with a longer maturity may fluctuate in value more than one with a shorter
maturity; (iii) market risk, i.e., low demand for debt securities may negatively
impact their price; (iv) interest rate risk, i.e., when interest rates go up,
the value of a debt security goes down, and when interest rates go down, the
value of a debt security goes up; (v) selection risk, i.e., the securities
selected by the Subadvisor may underperform the market or other securities
selected by other funds; and (vi) call risk, i.e., during a period of falling
interest rates, the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early, which may
reduce the Fund's income, if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest
rates.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are investments whose value depends on (or is
derived from) the value of an underlying instrument, such as a security, asset,
reference rate or index. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may
exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would
have lost had it invested in the underlying instrument. Derivatives may be
difficult to sell, unwind or value. Derivatives may also be subject to
counterparty risk, which is the risk that the counterparty (the party on the
other side of the transaction) on a derivative transaction will be unable to
honor its contractual obligations to the Fund. Swap transactions tend to shift
the Fund's investment exposure from one type of investment to another, and
therefore entail the risk that a party will default on its payment obligations
to the Fund. Futures may be more volatile than direct investments in the
instrument underlying the futures, and may not correlate perfectly to the
underlying instrument. Futures also may involve a small initial investment relative
to the risk assumed, which could result in losses greater than if they had not
been used. Due to fluctuations in the price of the underlying security, the Fund
may not be able to profitably exercise an option and may lose its entire investment
in an option.

Municipal Bond Risk: Municipal bond risks include the ability of the issuer to
repay the obligation, the relative lack of information about certain issuers,
and the possibility of future tax and legislative changes, which could affect
the market for and value of municipal securities. These risks include:

o General Obligation Bonds Risk-timely payments depend on the issuer's credit
quality, ability to raise tax revenues and ability to maintain an adequate tax
base;

o Revenue Bonds (including Industrial Development Bonds) Risk-these payments
depend on the money earned by the particular facility or class of facilities, or
the amount of revenues derived from another source, and may be negatively
impacted by the general credit of the user of the facility;

o Private Activity Bonds Risk-Municipalities and other public authorities issue
private activity bonds to finance development of industrial facilities for use
by a private enterprise, which is solely responsible for paying the principal
and interest on the bond;

o Moral Obligation Bonds Risk-moral obligation bonds are generally issued by
special purpose public authorities of a state or municipality. If the issuer is
unable to meet its obligations, repayment of these bonds becomes a moral
commitment, but not a legal obligation, of the state or municipality;

o Municipal Notes Risk-municipal notes are shorter-term municipal debt
obligations that pay interest that is, in the opinion of bond counsel, generally
excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes (except that the
interest may be includable in taxable income for purposes of the federal
alternative minimum tax) and that have a maturity that is generally one year or
less. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, the notes may not be
fully repaid and the Fund may lose money; and

o Municipal Lease Obligations Risk-in a municipal lease obligation, the issuer
agrees to make payments when due on the lease obligation. Although the issuer
does not pledge its unlimited taxing power for payment of the lease obligation,
the lease obligation is secured by the leased property.

Municipalities continue to experience economic and financial difficulties in the
current economic environment. The ability of a municipal issuer to make payments
and the value of municipal bonds can be affected by uncertainties in the
municipal securities market. Such uncertainties could cause increased volatility
in the municipal securities market and could negatively impact the Fund's net
asset value and/or the distributions paid by the Fund.

The Fund may invest more heavily in bonds from certain cities, states or regions
than others, which may increase the Fund's exposure to losses resulting from
economic, political, or regulatory occurrences impacting these particular
cities, states or regions.

Liquidity and Valuation Risk: Securities purchased by the Fund that are liquid
at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid due to events relating
to the issuer of the securities, market events, economic conditions or investor
perceptions. The lack of an active trading market may make it difficult to
obtain an accurate price for a security. If market conditions make it difficult
to value securities, the Fund may value these securities using more subjective
methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for a
security could be different than the value realized upon such security's sale.
As a result, an investor could pay more than the market value when buying Fund
shares or receive less than the market value when selling Fund shares. Liquidity
risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund may not be able to pay redemption
proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions,
unusually high volume of redemptions, or other reasons. To meet redemption
requests, the Fund may be forced to sell securities at an unfavorable time
and/or under unfavorable conditions.

Past Performance

The following bar chart and tables indicate some of the risks of investing in
the Fund. The bar chart shows you how the Fund's calendar year performance has
varied over the last ten years. Sales loads are not reflected in the bar chart.
If they were, returns would be less than those shown. The average annual total
returns table shows how the Fund's average annual total returns (before and
after taxes) for the one-, five- and ten-year periods compare to those of a
broad-based securities market index. The Fund has selected the Barclays Capital
Municipal Bond Index as its primary benchmark. The Barclays Capital Municipal
Bond Index includes approximately 15,000 municipal bonds, rated Baa or better by
Moody's, with a maturity of at least two years. Bonds subject to the alternative
minimum tax or with floating or zero coupons are excluded.

Performance data for the classes varies based on differences in their fee and
expense structures. Performance figures for Investor Class shares, first offered
on February 28, 2008, includes the historical performance of Class A shares
through February 27, 2008. Performance figures for Class I shares, first offered
on December 21, 2009, includes the historical performance of Class B shares
through December 20, 2009. Performance for newer share classes is adjusted for
differences in fees and expenses. Unadjusted, the performance shown for the
newer classes might have been lower. Past performance (before and after taxes)
is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Please visit mainstayinvestments.com for more recent performance information.

The bar chart shows you how the Fund's calendar year performance has varied over the
last ten years. Sales loads are not reflected in the bar chart.

Annual Returns, Class B Shares (by calendar year 2002-2011)

Best Quarter    
3Q/09     8.29 %
Worst Quarter   
4Q/10    -4.99 %

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2011)

Average Annual Total Returns MainStay Tax Free Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, Label	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	Average Annual Returns, 10 Years
Investor Class	Investor Class Return Before Taxes	5.72%	2.70%	3.50%
Class A	Class A Return Before Taxes	5.74%	2.76%	3.53%
Class B	Class B Return Before Taxes	5.36%	3.03%	3.71%
Class C	Class C Return Before Taxes	9.35%	3.39%	3.71%
Class I	Class I Return Before Taxes	10.99%	3.94%	4.25%
After Taxes on Distributions Class B	Class B Return After Taxes on Distributions	5.34%	3.02%	3.70%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sales Class B	Class B Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	5.07%	3.15%	3.72%
Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes)	10.70%	5.22%	5.38%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. In some cases, the return after taxes may exceed the return before taxes
due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of shares at the end of
the measurement period. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation
and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant if you hold
your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or
individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns shown are for Class B shares.
After-tax returns for the other share classes may vary.

[1] A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% may be imposed on certain redemptions made within one year of the date of purchase on shares that were purchased without an initial sales charge.

[1] The management fee is an annual percentage of the Fund's average daily net assets, plus a fee for fund accounting services previously provided by New York Life Investment Management LLC ("New York Life Investments") under a separate fund accounting agreement. This addition to the management fee amounted to 0.02% of the Fund's average daily net assets, but did not result in a net increase in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses. New York Life Investments has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee so that the management fee does not exceed the following percentages: 0.45% on assets up to $500 million; 0.425% on assets from $500 million to $1 billion; and 0.40% on assets in excess of $1 billion. This agreement will remain in effect until February 28, 2013, and shall renew automatically for one-year terms unless New York Life Investments provides written notice of termination prior to the start of the next term or upon approval of the Board of Trustees of the Fund. Without this waiver the management fee would be: 0.50% on assets up to $500 million; 0.475% on assets from $500 million up to $1 billion; and 0.45% on assets in excess of $1 billion.

[2] A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% may be imposed on certain redemptions made within one year of the date of purchase on shares that were purchased without an initial sales charge.

[3] New York Life Investments has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses so that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding taxes, interest, litigation, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and other transaction expenses relating to the purchase or sale of portfolio investments, and acquired (underlying) fund fees and expenses) for Class A shares do not exceed 0.82% of its average daily net assets. New York Life Investments will apply an equivalent waiver or reimbursement, in an equal number of basis points, to the other share classes. This agreement will remain in effect until February 28, 2013, and shall renew automatically for one-year terms unless New York Life Investments provides written notice of termination prior to the start of the next term or upon approval of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.