There’s No Such Thing As A “Safe” Investment

June 23, 2015

There is so much information regarding the best investment mix for your financial goals. I challenge you to watch one episode of Squawk Box and see how long it takes for your head to spin with all of the conflicting information. On top of everything, everyone has a different idea about risk. I was talking with my colleague, Kelley, and asked her to share her perspective on how people should look at risk. Below is her guidance. Continue reading “There’s No Such Thing As A “Safe” Investment”

What’s Your Real Risk Tolerance?

October 23, 2014

With panic sweeping the stock market, it’s time to check your risk tolerance score. (You did take a risk tolerance quiz like this before investing your money, right?) The whole purpose of determining your risk tolerance is to use it as a guideline to create a mix of investments that you can “tolerate”…in other words, that you won’t bail out of during times like these. After all, if you do bail out and fail to get back in the market in time (and if you figure out a way to time the bottom, please let me know), you’ll miss the eventual recovery and turn a temporary loss into a permanent one. Continue reading “What’s Your Real Risk Tolerance?”

The Risk of Not Taking Risk

April 17, 2014

Back in college in the late 90’s, I learned a valuable lesson about managing risk when I got caught up investing in the dot com bubble. It was so easy to put up two thousand dollars and see it double or triple overnight. But the bubble burst a few years later and I was left with less money in my account than when I started. I cashed out of day trading, fortunately realizing before I had lost too much that this was not a viable long term strategy. Continue reading “The Risk of Not Taking Risk”