Looking to make a smart start? Consider these ideas.
MSNBC:
Wall Street is littered with commonplace financial advice, but if you want to get your career as an investor off to a smart start, you should consider going against, um, the flow of that traffic. (Just sticking with the metaphor, folks!) To help you step on the gas, consider these 3 suggestions:
1. Investing isn’t an either/or proposition
For all too many folks, investing is a zero-sum game. Truth is, though, depending on your timeline and tolerance for risk, all of the market’s major asset classes - from the raciest growth stocks to buttoned-down fixed-income vehicles - can have a role to play in your portfolio. Spreading your bets around, after all, can help take the sting out of market downturns…
2. Funds and stocks can live peacefully - and profitably - in the same portfolio
A solid portfolio begins with world-class mutual funds. And while you can always opt for an index tracker like the SPDRs (AMEX: SPY) exchange-traded fund, remember that, with index picks, you’re destined to lose to the market each year by about the amount of your expenses. One solution is to mix index funds with actively managed keepers - vehicles that allow you to invest outside your area of expertise and across the market’s various cap ranges with managers who have proven over time that they can deliver the goods.
The bottom line: Once your fund portfolio is in place, you’ll be in good position to go about the biz of researching individual stocks and, if they strike the right profile, investing in them as well.
3. Stay current. More.
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