Of all the subjects taught in high school and college, one of the most important ones is missing, money management and investing.  As more and more Americans have to rely on themselves for their 401(k) pensions, there is a glaring need for investment education.  One thing you can do is purchase a gold investment at Monex.

Besides precious metals like gold and silver, core investments of everyone’s portfolio should include a mix of bonds and stocks, preferably dividend paying stocks.  While this advice may appear easy enough to follow, the reality is it takes work to choose the right allocation of stocks and bonds and precious metals.  It also takes work to choose the right stocks and bonds for your portfolio; you can’t simply throw darts at the financial pages to pick your investments.

Regarding bonds, right now municipal bonds and U.S. Treasury Bonds are losing value as interest rates remain low and large budget deficits plague all levels of government; hence they are not currently appropriate for your portfolio.  Triple A rated corporate bonds on the other hand should form the core of your portfolio.  These bonds are from rock solid companies that have been in business for a long time and have a proven track record of making money.  Some of these bonds will pay higher interest rates than others, but the bottom line is that these bonds are much safer than stocks because if a company ever defaults on its bonds, the bondholders get paid first while stockholders usually wind up with nothing.  Because you are buying Triple A rated bonds, the risk of default is virtually nil.

You want to be paid for investing in a company’s stock so when buying stocks, stick with companies that have been in business a long time with a record of increasing their dividends annually.  Reinvesting those dividends over time will compound your gains incredibly.  Einstein is rumored to have once said that compound interest is the greatest invention of mankind.  Whether or not he said it, it is undeniable that compounding will increase your investment returns exponentially over time.

Many financial experts recommend ten percent of your portfolio in precious metals, although in times of dangerous inflation like we are experiencing right now, some are recommending twenty or even thirty per cent in precious metals.  Whatever percentage you choose, you can make your gold investment at Monex.