November 16, 1995
Securities and Exchange Commission
Judiciary Plaza
450 Fifth Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re: Rule 24f-2 Notice for
MERRILL LYNCH BALANCED FUND
FOR INVESTMENT AND
RETIREMENT, INC.
File No. 2-91329
Dear Sirs:
In accordance with the provisions of Rule
24f-2 under the Investment Company Act
of 1940, Merrill Lynch Balanced Fund for
Investment and Retirement, Inc. (the
"Fund") hereby files its Rule 24f-2
Notice (the "Notice").
1. The Notice is being filed for the fiscal
year of the Fund ended September 30,
1995 (the "Fiscal Year").
2. 233,845,778 shares of common stock
of the Fund which had been registered
under the Securities Act of 1933 (the
"Securities Act") other than pursuant to
Rule 24f-2 remained unsold at the
beginning of the Fiscal Year.
3. 13,950,432 shares of common stock
were registered under the Securities
Act during the Fiscal Year other than
pursuant to Rule 24f-2.
4. 3,817,468 shares of common stock
were sold during the Fiscal Year.*
5. No shares of common stock were sold
during the Fiscal Year in reliance upon
registration pursuant to Rule 24f-2.
_______________
*Of this amount, 1,070,519 Class A shares
were sold at an aggregate price of
$11,591,966, 2,091,731 Class B shares
were sold at an aggregate price of
$23,097,445, 132,339 Class C shares
were sold at an aggregate price of
$1,431,442 and 522,879 Class D shares
were sold at an aggregate price of
$5,666,353. The aggregate price of all
shares of common stock sold during the
Fiscal Year was $36,687,206.
<PAGE>
Please direct any questions relating to this
filing to Jerry Weiss, Merrill Lynch Asset
Management, P.O. Box 9011, Princeton,
N.J. 08543-9011, (609)282-1727 or to
Joel Goldberg at Shereff, Friedman,
Hoffman & Goodman, LLP, 919 Third
Avenue, New York, New York 10022,
(212) 758-9500.
Very truly yours,
MERRILL LYNCH BALANCED FUND
FOR INVESTMENT AND RETIREMENT,
INC.
By /s/ Jerry Weiss
- - - - - - - - - - -
Jerry Weiss
Secretary
