Investment
Investing should be easy – just buy low and sell high – but most of us have trouble following that simple advice. There are principles and strategies that may enable you to put together an investment portfolio that reflects your risk tolerance, time horizon, and goals. Understanding these principles and strategies can help you avoid some of the pitfalls that snare some investors.
What Smart Investors Know
Smart investors take the time to separate emotion from fact.
5 Smart Investing Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
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Inflation and Your Portfolio
Even low inflation rates can pose a threat to investment returns.
A Taxing Story: Capital Gains and Losses
Understanding how capital gains are taxed may help you refine your investment strategies.
Events on Wall Street
Can successful investors predict changes in the markets? Some can but others miss the market’s signals.
Best Performing Asset Classes
Bonds may outperform stocks one year only to have stocks rebound the next.
The Business Cycle
Understanding the economy's cycles can help put current business conditions in better perspective.
A Look at Diversification
Diversification is an investment principle designed to manage risk, but it can't prevent against a loss.
Required Reading: The Economic Report of the President
The Economic Report of the President can help identify the forces driving — or dragging — the economy.
A Primer on Dividends
A company's profits can be reinvested or paid out to the company’s shareholders as “dividends."
Estimating the Cost of College
This worksheet can help you estimate the costs of a four-year college program.
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What Is the Dividend Yield?
This calculator helps determine your pre-tax and after-tax dividend yield on a particular stock.
What Is My Risk Tolerance?
This questionnaire will help determine your tolerance for investment risk.
Taxable vs. Tax-Deferred Savings
Use this calculator to compare the future value of investments with different tax consequences.
Contributing to an IRA?
Determine if you are eligible to contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA.
Impact of Taxes and Inflation
Estimate the potential impact taxes and inflation can have on the purchasing power of an investment.
Saving for College
This calculator can help you estimate how much you should be saving for college.
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5 Smart Investing Strategies
There are some smart strategies that may help you pursue your investment objectives
Keys to Investing for Retirement
There are some key concepts to understand when investing for retirement
5 Smart Investing Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
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What Can a Million Dollars Buy You?
$1 million in a diversified portfolio could help finance part of your retirement.
The Junk Drawer Approach to Investing
It's easy to let investments accumulate like old receipts in a junk drawer.
Jane Bond: Decoding Diversification
Agent Jane Bond is on the case, discovering how bonds diversify a portfolio.
Should You Invest in Exchange Traded Funds?
There are hundreds of ETFs available. Should you invest in them?
The Fed and How It Got That Way
Here is a quick history of the Federal Reserve and an overview of what it does.
Should I Invest in Gold?
Learning more about gold and its history may help you decide whether it has a place in your portfolio.