What is your ideal investment ratio?

zrlevin

I was just wondering because I am trying to get all of my stuff in order before I head back to school for the year.

Right now, I'm at about 50% stocks, 25% cash, 25% PMs. This isn't counting my inventory or collection as assets. I would like it to be a little more diverse, but I have a lot less funds than most of you guys, so it's a little tougher.

What is your ratio?

Justacommeman

Depends on age in most cases and aversion to risk. I'm not sure asking for objective investment advise on a pm forum is wise
I actually like your ratio for your age................MJ

edited for bad spelling

jmski52

I encourage your investment in your education. That should be your Number 1 emphasis in investing, and I am glad to see that you are taking education seriously, because it is the correct move and the best investment.

From an investment perspective, I expect at least the next 2-3 years to be highly uncertain in the stock market and I don't like stocks at all for many reasons, including the health care bill, the "financial regulatory reform" legislation, the possible cap & trade taxes, the possible vat, and the inevitable and innumerous regs that haven't even been written yet, but which are coming. All of these new laws consist of (unread) 2000 page documents that will spawn VOLUMES of new regulations from which nobody can predict the longterm effects. In effect, this type of legislation gives a free hand to the legal beagle staffers of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to construct whatever regulations having whatever impacts they feel is necessary to do what they want. If you run a business, you are simply a sitting duck waiting in the crosshairs.

On the other side of the coin, market manipulators haven't been put out of business and are still being allowed to milk the public via flash trading and derivative schemes that place all of the risk upon the public sector and funnel all of the gains into private pockets. Astoundingly, the "financial regulatory reform" pretty much leaves those guys alone to continue their dirty work. All of this is of course patently unfair to us little guys, which is most certainly "by design", even to the extent of complicity with the governmental regulators. I have never seen it so bad, and accordingly I am holding my assets in pms and some cash, home equity and nothing else until we see the real results of economic policy.

We have also seen the trashing of bankruptcy law and financial accounting practices just within the past 1 year. The impact on financial markets from zigzags in applied law and financial standards is very real and it affects the behaviors of investors in real ways. Financial managers know very well how to assess risk and how to move funds around. Capital is simply not going to take it in the neck for the sake of utopian social policies.

The current administration's attitude toward business is extremely hostile and I expect that business will not invest until business leaders know what they will be dealing with in the longer term. My intuition is that it will take at least 3 years of corrective action to heal every year of damage that is being inflicted on the nation and upon free markets by the current gang. That puts any economic renaissance at least out to 2024, even disregarding our changing demographics (which are not too favorable but not fatal if managed properly, which is not being done). What we've been seeing in realtime is "fundamental change", and not in a good way.

Here's the kicker. Stocks might actually be manipulated to go "up" in the next few years, and the driver for that would be inflation, which is coming as sure as the sunrise because of our screwed up spending programs, our economic bailout policies and the burgeoning debt load. A rising stock market due to inflation suits the government nicely because not only are tax brackets expected to creep up along with numerous other new taxes, but rising stock market profits will be skimmed as taxable profits. Rising inflation also helps reduce the debt load due to government interest payments, which are then paid in inflated dollars.

Everything is relative. Good luck in school.

fishcooker

I can't imagine investing in anything but cash whilst pursuing an education and having limited funds.

edmundfitzgerald

I would not be invested in stocks. Good luck with your new semester.

meluaufeet

'Investing' in your education is great depending on what it is and as long as you know what you want, and you love the field. Your allocation seems ok... get some dividends.

And enjoy your education...

1970SilverArt

If a person knows what you want to do as a career and that person know that going to college is required to get you to that career, then a college education can be a good investment in yourself. If a person does not know what they want to do career-wise, then a college education could potentially turn out to be a bad investment especially if a person had to take out a student loan to get that degree.

PM's are always good to have but that it just my opinion.