| |
| |
|
Investing Information |
|
|
|
The 8 Biggest Mistakes When Designing Portfolios - and How To Avoid Them
Are you as good an investor as you think? Do you consider yourself a well-informed investor able to anticipate and avoid nearly all pitfalls associated with investing? Chances are, you are making one of the common errors that could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, or worse yet, your financial independence, control and security. "I see people making the same costly mistakes over and over," says Scott Frush, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and author of Optimal Investing: How To Protect and Grow Your Wealth With Asset Allocation (Marshall Rand Publishing; available by calling 1-800-247-6553). "But small leaks can sink great ships." Scott Frush is president of Frush Financial Group and editor of the Journal of Asset Allocation. Discover some of his investment secrets in the free report, 15 Golden Rules for Building Optimal Portfolios, available at www.AssetAllocationExpert.com. Here Scott Frush shares eight common, yet costly, mistakes investors make when designing their investment portfolios and reveals how to avoid them. 1. OMITTING APPROPRIATE ASSET CLASSES AND ASSET SUBCLASSES. Numerous landmark studies have concluded that how you allocate your portfolio, rather than which investments you select or when you buy or sell them, determines the majority of your investment performance over time. As a result, make every effort to allocate your portfolio to all appropriate asset classes and asset subclasses. 2. SELECTING INAPPROPRIATE ASSET CLASS WEIGHTINGS. By selecting inappropriate asset class weightings a portfolio may earn a lower return and experience greater risk than expected. Consequently, be careful not to over or under weight any asset class, thus enhancing your portfolio's risk and return trade-off profile. 3. UNDERESTIMATING THE IMPACT OF INFLATION. Inflation can erode the real value of your portfolio over time, thus placing your future financial security at risk. As a general rule, the longer your investment time horizon, the more you should allocate to equity investments. For shorter investment time horizons, emphasize fixed-income and cash and equivalent investments. 4. NEGLECTING THE EFFECTS OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT EXPENSES. Over time, the compounding effect of portfolio management expenses can be quite large, thus depriving you of better returns. For this reason, you should focus on minimizing portfolio management expenses, specifically trading costs, advisory fees and taxes. 5. MAKING INACCURATE RETURN FORECASTS. Forecasting is the single most difficult task with designing portfolios. Although not a perfect solution, using historical returns rather than making forecasts is generally considered more appropriate for individual investors. 6. OVERESTIMATING THE LEVEL OF PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION. Diversification is one of the ten cornerstone principles of asset allocation and is key to reducing risk, namely company-specific risk. To properly diversify, you should hold sufficient quantities of not-too-similar securities with comparable risk and return trade-off profiles. Consider broad-based index funds for a quick and easy solution. 7. MISJUDGING THE IMPACT TAXES HAVE ON NET RETURN. Taxes can have a severe negative impact on your net return. As a result, balance tax and investment considerations, but remember that suitability and appropriateness of an investment take precedence over tax consequences. Never hold an inappropriate investment. 8. CONFUSING DIVERSIFICATION WITH ASSET ALLOCATION. Many investors mistakenly believe that a properly diversified portfolio is a properly allocated portfolio. This is the leading misconception of asset allocation. Properly allocate your portfolio among the different asset classes first and then diversify the investments within each asset class. By avoiding these biggest mistakes you will design an optimal portfolio that provides the best opportunity to achieve and protect your financial independence, control and security. About The Author Scott Frush, CFA, CFP is president of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, based Frush Financial Group and is editor and publisher of the Journal of Asset Allocation. To subscribe to the free Journal of Asset Allocation, visit www.AssetAllocationExpert.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Investing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Wit and Wisdom on Money, Wall Street and Success - Part #1 I love to collect quotes as they concisely promote a philosophy which is readily understandable.In my 25+ years of investing I have collected hundreds of quotes related to Wisdom, Wall Street and Success. Angels, Are They Real? They're real, but few survive. High risk investing is dangerous to your bank balance. Finding the Perfect Company The perfect company - it's the holy grail of the investment world. The company that will make its initial investment hundreds of times over. Investing As A Sport? I said last week that money doesn't generally buy happiness, but the lack of it can buy absolute misery. This, by the way, is not just my personal observation. Property Investment Just Got Exciting There is an area in Brazil that has lower crime & lower property prices than where your are probably sitting right now!Demand from the increasing retirement population and from those who have benefited from their own property markets are now pushing overseas property prices up. Brazilian property prices are still very low and offer the overseas property buyer quality real estate in stunning locations. The Past Does Not Equal The Future: Mutual Fund Returns! A way that investors get ripped off and in a sense rip themselves off is based on the culture of performance in the mutual fund industry. If you stop and think about it there is absolutely no reason that the past has to equal the future. Consolidation Period The economic data reported Fri showed continued above trend growth with disinflation (at the core level, excluding food and energy) in the second quarter. Real output growth has slowed from about 4% in 2003 & 2004 to just over 3 1/2% so far this year, while a core inflation rate fell from 3% last quarter to 2%. Dont Catch a Falling Knife One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced investors is trying to "catch a falling knife". This is the phrase used to describe the habit of buying stocks that are in "freefall", and is a poor strategy, albeit common among new investors. Going Offshore For Asset Protection There are a number of key reasons why individuals and businesses consider going offshore for asset protection purposes.The asset protection advantages the offshore world offers extend from protecting a business from excessive taxation to opening doors to enable wealth and asset enrichment via the utilisation of offshore investment opportunities. Use this Simple Trick its to Buy $100 Bills Direct from your Bank for only $97 Most People just don't understand the power of using their home as a Wealth Creation Tool. How many people do you know who have lived in the same house for 10, 15 or more years and have virtually no mortgage, You know the Type 'House Rich Cash Poor'. What is an Investor Ready Business Plan A Business Plan, as all good entrepreneurs starting out in life should know is the foundation, or rather a springboard, towards the establishment and growth of a new business. A business plan is an essential tool for companies raising capital - and your business plan needs to be Investor Ready. Have You Ever Seen A Map of the World Turned Upside Down? For those accustomed to viewing things a certain way, it is quite disconcerting. One almost expects the ocean to pour out. Looking For a Safe Investment? Try a Certificate of Deposit If you are looking for a safe investment and you have between $100 -$1,000 to invest, you should consider a certificate of deposit or CD. When purchased through a bank, CD's are federally insured up to $100,000. Keep Stock Market Investment Profits Have you had one of those huge investment winners - a stock that went from $2.00 to $80. Buying Florida Investment Properties and Where Its Hot Relaxing in Style: Florida Investment PropertiesIn Florida, relaxing in the sun and sand is a way of life. There's no better way to experience a slice of Florida living than buying your own space. An Investment Real Estate Strategy Unknown To Most Is A Negative Amortization Loan If you want to make the most of your personal or investment real estate, you should consider a negative amortization loan. Mortgage amortization is basically mortgage balance reduction. Trading Tips No 4: Technical Analysis The Holy Grail Syndrome Everyone knows that the Holy Grail of investing and trading is a myth. Finding a good technical analysis tool that will give you a trading system that wins all the time is called the holy grail of trading. Missleading Fund Names Wreak Havoc On Investor Returns! Mutual fund managers use fake fund names to part you from your money such that you cannot judge what a fund does by its name. Many funds have names that are outright misleading or even deceptive. Retire Dollar Smart Jim Miller is a registered investment advisor. This means that he is not beholden to a particular brokerage or financial institution. Copy Cat or How to Use a Successful Trading System How many books have you read about successful traders? How they did this or that and made a fortune and are still doing it. You say to yourself, "I'm going to follow his method and get rich".
|
| Good Credit Loans | home | site map | School Bus Clothing | Florida Pool Heating |
| © 2006 |
