





  6. Diversify. Diversification is a powerful investment concept that helps you to reduce the risk of holding more aggressive investments. Diversifying simply means that you should hold a variety of investments that don’t move in tandem in different market environments. For example, if you invest in stocks, invest worldwide, not just in the U.S. market. You can further diversify by investing in real estate.


  8. Ignore the minutiae. Don’t feel mystified by or feel the need to follow the short-term gyrations of the financial markets. Ultimately, the prices of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments are determined by supply and demand, which are influenced by thousands of external issues and millions of investors’ expectations and fears.

  9. Allocate your assets. How you divvy up or allocate your money among major investments greatly determines your returns. The younger you are and the more money you earmark for the long term, the greater the percentage you should devote to ownership investments.

  10. Do your homework before you invest. You work hard for your money, and buying and selling investments costs you money. Investing isn’t a field where acting first and asking questions later works well. Never buy an investment based on an advertisement or a salesperson’s solicitation of you.

  11. Keep an eye on taxes. Take advantage of tax-deductible retirement accounts and understand the impact of your tax bracket when investing outside tax-sheltered retirement accounts.

  12. Consider the value of your time and your investing skills and desires. Investing in stocks and other securities via the best mutual funds and exchange-traded funds is both time-efficient and profitable. Real estate investing and running a small business are the most time-intensive investments.

  13. Where possible, minimize fees. The more you pay in commissions and management fees on your investments, the greater the drag on your returns. And don’t fall prey to the thinking that “you get what you pay for.”


  15. Don’t bail when things look bleak. The hardest time, psychologically, to hold on to your investments is when they’re down. Even the best investments go through depressed periods, which is the worst possible time to sell. Don’t sell when there’s a sale going on; if anything, consider buying more.




