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.
Inflation and Your Portfolio
Even low inflation rates can pose a threat to investment returns.
5 Smart Investing Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
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The Junk Drawer Approach to Investing
It's easy to let investments accumulate like old receipts in a junk drawer.
How Financial Professionals Are Compensated
Read this overview to learn how financial advisors are compensated.
What Smart Investors Know
Savvy investors take the time to separate emotion from fact.
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."
Types of Stock Market Analysis
Most stock market analysis falls into three broad groups: Fundamental, technical, and sentimental. Here’s a look at each.
Investing with Your Heart
For some, the social impact of investing is just as important as the return, perhaps more important.
You Would Rather Be...
Are you a thrill seeker, or content to relax in the backyard? Use this flowchart to find out more about your risk tolerance.
The Anatomy of an Index
The S&P 500 represents a large portion of the value of the U.S. equity market, it may be worth understanding.
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Contributing to an IRA?
Determine if you are eligible to contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA.
What Is the Dividend Yield?
This calculator helps determine your pre-tax and after-tax dividend yield on a particular stock.
Saving for College
This calculator can help you estimate how much you should be saving for college.
Taxable vs. Tax-Deferred Savings
Use this calculator to compare the future value of investments with different tax consequences.
Impact of Taxes and Inflation
Estimate the potential impact taxes and inflation can have on the purchasing power of an investment.
How Compound Interest Works
Use this calculator to better see the potential impact of compound interest on an asset.
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5 Smart Investing Strategies
There are some smart strategies that may help you pursue your investment objectives
5 Smart Investing Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
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The Cycle of Investing
Understanding the cycle of investing may help you avoid easy pitfalls.
What Smart Investors Know
Savvy investors take the time to separate emotion from fact.
Jane Bond: Infiltrating the Market
Agent Jane Bond is on the case, cracking the code on bonds.
Should I Invest in Gold?
Learning more about gold and its history may help you decide whether it has a place in your portfolio.
From Boats to Brokers
From the Dutch East India Company to Wall Street, the stock market has a long and storied history.
Bursting the Bubble
Tulips were the first, but they won’t be the last. What forms a “bubble” and what causes them to burst?