Investing should be fairly straightforward for most people.
The hard part is having the discipline, confidence, and long-term perspective to see it through.
Most people would be well served by simply buying a diversified portfolio of securities aligned with their investment risk tolerance and time horizon. And sticking with it (which is the tough part).
Then continue to add additional savings each year; rebalance to your target asset allocation on a regular schedule; and only shift your allocation to reflect changes in your life (not because of the market’s performance).
But how is investing easy?
Investing should be straightforward, for most people, given the abundance of resources available—from respectable and qualified sources—that show you what to invest in. Including plenty of good sources available for free.
Click one of the Investment Portfolios links on this page to see examples of model portfolios available for free on the internet.
Life changes that might trigger a portfolio change would include anything that alters the investment time horizon and/or risk tolerance that determined your asset allocation to begin with.
Things like shifting to a less volatile portfolio as you get closer to retirement or adjustments based on changes to your employment (loss of job, shifting to a less secure profession, etc.).
Search for risk tolerance or investor profile questionnaires that will recommend which portfolio (conservative, moderate, growth, etc.) is appropriate for you.
Vanguard has one; as do many other asset management firms.
Free portfolio allocation models
20-80 Conservative Portfolio
40-60 Moderate Portfolio
60-40 Balanced Portfolio
80-20 Growth Portfolio
100-0 Aggressive Growth Portfolio
Dividend Equity Strategy
… Coming Soon! …
