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
Savvy 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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The Business Cycle
How will you weather the ups and downs of the business cycle?

How Financial Professionals Are Compensated
Read this overview to learn how financial advisors are compensated.

Emerging Market Opportunities
What are your options for investing in emerging markets?
Estimating the Cost of College
This worksheet can help you estimate the costs of a four-year college program.
Getting a Head Start on College Savings
A few strategies that may help you prepare for the cost of higher education.
Asset Allocation
Consider how your assets are allocated and if that allocation is consistent with your time frame and risk tolerance.
Mutual Funds vs. ETFs
Exchange-traded funds have some things in common with mutual funds, but there are differences, too.
Investing with Your Heart
For some, the social impact of investing is just as important as the return, perhaps more important.
Required Reading: The Economic Report of the President
The Economic Report of the President can help identify the forces driving — or dragging — the economy.
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Saving for College
This calculator can help you estimate how much you should be saving for college.
Contributing to an IRA?
Determine if you are eligible to contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA.
Taxable vs. Tax-Deferred Savings
Use this calculator to compare the future value of investments with different tax consequences.
What Is My Risk Tolerance?
This questionnaire will help determine your tolerance for investment risk.
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 Principles
Principles that can help create a portfolio designed to pursue investment goals.
5 Smart Investing Strategies
There are some smart strategies that may help you pursue your investment objectives
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Jane Bond: Scaling the Ladder
Agent Jane Bond is on the case, uncovering the mystery of bond laddering.
Jane Bond: Infiltrating the Market
Agent Jane Bond is on the case, cracking the code on bonds.
Bursting the Bubble
Tulips were the first, but they won’t be the last. What forms a “bubble” and what causes them to burst?
The Business Cycle
How will you weather the ups and downs of the business cycle?
The Fed and How It Got That Way
Here is a quick history of the Federal Reserve and an overview of what it does.
The Cycle of Investing
Understanding the cycle of investing may help you avoid easy pitfalls.