8 Secure Investments You Should Know About |
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The stock market surged throughout the 1990s, swelling household wealth and investor confidence like no bull market in history. Then, the bears came to the party.
From 1997 - 2000, capital gains for many shareholders accumulated beyond anything they might have hoped for, compounding at an annual rate of 15 percent to 20 percent, or more. If that doesn't sound very impressive, consider what it implies over the long term.
At a "mere" 15 percent, it would transform a $10,000 stake into almost $5 million over the course of a working life. And at 20 percent, that same stake would grow into a nest egg worth more than $30 million.
In retrospect, it was not a very likely scenario. Could anyone but a Warren Buffet, a John Templeton, or a handful of world-beating financial geniuses make such a killing? Probably not.
Yet millions of investors convinced themselves they could trounce the odds, that the charts would always point up and to the right, year after year, in all market conditions, until it was too late and their gains vaporized right before their eyes.
The task of smart investors is to keep the risks clearly in mind and to adjust their investment portfolios as those risks change. If you aggressively invest in stocks when the market is strong, why would you be any less aggressive seeking safe investments when conditions weaken?
 Playing It Safe
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