Ten Ways to Watch Your Financial Weight
Divide and conquer.
Want to get a better grip on your investment portfolio and your overall finances? Try doing the splits.
Your goal: To divvy up your money in a slew of different ways, so you look at your financial life from a variety of angles. To that end, try these 10 simple calculations.
1. Stocks vs. Bonds. Start by figuring out your portfolio's basic split between stocks and more conservative investments, like bonds, money-market funds and certificates of deposit. This is the biggest driver of your portfolio's risk and return.
Suppose you currently have 60% of your money in stocks. Want to crank up your long-run performance? Forget trying to pick better stocks and mutual funds.
Instead, simply boost your stock allocation to 70%. But before you take that step, make sure you can stomach the extra risk involved.
2. Taxable vs. Tax-Sheltered. Next, calculate how much you have in your regular taxable account and how much in tax-sheltered accounts, such as 401(k) plans, individual retirement accounts and Roth IRAs. That information can be especially important in a financial emergency.
If you suddenly need a wad of cash, you can tap your taxable account, often at little or no tax cost. You can also withdraw your Roth contributions without coughing up money to Uncle Sam. But if you spend your Roth's investment earnings or you pull money out of any other type of retirement account, you could get slapped with income taxes and tax penalties.
3. U.S. vs. Foreign. Take your stock portfolio and calculate the percentage in U.S. shares and the percentage in foreign markets. A decent helping of foreign stocks is critical to a well-diversified portfolio, so I would aim to have 25% or 30% abroad.
In recent years, critics have noted that U.S. and foreign stocks often rise and fall in tandem. Nonetheless, international diversification is still worthwhile.
Consider 2005. Sure, both U.S. and foreign stocks climbed. But there was a huge disparity in performance, with the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index up just 4.9%, while Morgan Stanley Capital International's Europe, Australasia and Far East index leapt 13.5%.
4. Large vs. Small. Just as you want to own both U.S. and foreign stocks, so you should invest in large and small companies. Three-quarters of the U.S. market is accounted for by the big blue-chip stocks in the S&P 500, with smaller companies accounting for the other quarter. Check that your portfolio has a healthy allocation to both market segments.
If you're an investment junkie, also diversify your foreign stocks. Begin with a core position in a foreign fund that owns large companies in developed markets. Next, tack on exposure to small stocks, through an international small-cap fund, and small markets, through an emerging-markets fund.
5. Growth vs. Value. In the late 1990s, many investors loaded up on highflying growth-stock funds, especially those focused on technology companies. More recently, folks have flocked to value funds, which have generated dazzling gains over the past six years by purchasing stocks that appear cheap compared to assets or earnings. But such performance chasing is foolish.
You really want to own both types of stocks. My advice: Purchase a total-market-index fund. That will give you exposure to all U.S. stocks -- large, small, growth and value -- in a single mutual fund.
6. Active vs. Indexed. When you invest, there isn't just the risk you will lose money. There's also a chance the markets will roar ahead -- and your investments will be left behind.
To gauge your "active risk," tote up your holdings of actively managed mutual funds and individual stocks and bonds. Want to reduce the risk of market-lagging performance? Stash more of your portfolio in index funds, thus locking in the performance of the underlying markets.
7. Financial vs. Real. Financial assets, like stocks and bonds, offer a low-cost, convenient way to build wealth over the long run. But these investments will likely suffer steep short-term losses if inflation takes off.
In that scenario, however, you should see decent gains from real assets like gold, commodities and real estate. Inflation-indexed bonds, while technically a financial asset, would also fare well. The lesson: While conventional stocks and bonds should be your core investment, consider buying yourself some inflation protection by allocating a little money to real assets.
8. Assets vs. Liabilities. Add up the value of your home and all your investments, and then compare that to your total debts, including your mortgage, student loans, credit-card balances and auto loans.
The difference between these two numbers is your net worth. Not an impressive number? I'll leave you to chide yourself.
9. Income vs. Obligations. You can also gauge your financial health by looking at your monthly income and outlays.
Start with your monthly post-tax income, and then calculate what percentage goes out the door each month for mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, cable, insurance, Internet access, car payments and any other fixed costs. The higher the percentage, the more precarious your finances -- and the quicker things could unravel if you get hit with unexpected expenses or see a drop in income.
10. Spending vs. Saving. Five or six weeks ago, your employer likely sent you a W-2 that listed, among other items, your 2005 contribution to the company retirement plan. To that sum, add your 2005 IRA contribution and any other money you socked away for retirement last year. Next, compare this to the total income shown on your W-2.
Suppose last year you saved $2,500, or 5% of your $50,000 income, with the rest going to spending and taxes. The bad news: You probably need to double your annual retirement savings, to at least $5,000. The good news: It isn't that difficult. After all, to double your savings rate, you need to cut your spending and taxes from $47,500 to $45,000 -- a drop of just 5.3%.
10种方法教你分散投资
分而治之。
你希望更好地控制自己的投资组合和整体财务状况？那就试试分散投资吧。
目标：以各种不同方式分配资金，这样你可以多角度地审视自己的财务状况。那么为了达到这个目标，试试下面10个简单的分配方法吧。
1. 股票对债券。首先确定投资组合中股票和债券、货币市场基金及定期大额存单等更稳健投资的基本比例。这是决定投资组合中风险和回报的主要因素。
假设你现在将60%的资金投入了股市。想要提高投资组合的长期表现吗？那就不要费力选择业绩良好的股票和共同基金了。
你只需将对股票的投资比例提高到70%。不过在此之前，确定自己有能力承受因此产生的更大风险。
2. 应税对避税。计算出经常帐户中应课税和可避税部分各有多少，避税部分包括401(k)计划、个人退休帐户和Roth个人退休金帐户等。这些信息在出现财务紧急情况时尤其重要。
如果突然需要现金，你可以从应课税帐户中取款，这样通常可以少交税甚至免税。你也可以从Roth帐户中提款，这也无需交税。不过如果你支取了Roth帐户的投资收入或者从其他退休金帐户中取款，那就可能会被收取所得税或者得到惩罚性税收。
3. 国内对国外。计算你的股票投资组合中美国股票和外国股票的比例。充足的外国股票投资对于分散风险至关重要，所以我会持有25%或30%的外国股票。
最近几年，批评家们指出美国和外国股票的涨跌趋势通常有所关联。但是，国际性的分散投资仍然是明智之举。
以2005年为例：当然，美国股市和外国股市都在攀升。不过在表现上却有巨大差异，标准普尔500指数仅上升了4.9%，而摩根士丹利资本国际公司(Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc.)在欧洲、澳大拉西亚和远东地区的指数却猛涨了13.5%。
4. 大型对小型。正如你应该持有国内和国外两类股票一样，你也应该同时向大型和小型公司投资。标准普尔500指数中的大型蓝筹股占美国市场的3/4，较小规模的公司占剩下的1/4。看看你的投资组合对这两种市场划分的投资比例是否合适。
如果你是个投资迷，那么你的外国股票也应该多样化。首先，购买拥有发达市场大型公司股票的外国基金。其次，通过国际小型股基金投资小型股，并通过新兴市场基金投资小型市场。
5. 增长型对价值型。20世纪90年代末，许多投资者青睐高增长型的股票基金，特别是那些科技公司。最近，投资者则纷纷涌向价值型基金。以资产或收益看，这些股票的价格相对便宜。在过去6年里，价值型股票的收益十分可观。不过这种追逐潮流的做法并不明智。
你应该同时持有这两种类型的股票。我的建议是：购买一种全部市场指数基金。这样通过一种共同基金，你便可以拥有所有的美国股票──大型、小型、增长型和价值型。
6. 积极对跟踪指数。你投资时面对的风险不仅仅是赔钱。有可能是整个市场走高──你却落在了后面。
为了评估“积极风险”，计算出积极管理的共同基金、股票及债券的数量。希望减少被市场抛弃的风险？那么就在投资组合中增加指数基金的分量，这样你就可以锁定市场了。
7. 金融资产对不动产。股票和债券等金融资产是创造长期财富的一种成本低廉、操作简便的方法。不过如果发生了通货膨胀，那么这种投资可能将遭受巨大的短期损失。
不过通货膨胀时，黄金、商品和房地产这类不动产将得到不错的收益。理论上属于金融资产的通货膨胀连动债券也能获得良好的收益。记住：虽然传统的股票和债券应该是投资的核心部分，但也应该考虑将少部分资金投入不动产，以便规避通货膨胀风险。
8. 资产对负债。计算你的房屋和所有投资的价值，然后与总负债──包括抵押、学生贷款、信用卡余额和汽车贷款──进行比较。
两者之差就是你的资产净值。这个数字并不令人欣喜？那么你应该自我检讨了。
9. 收入对负债。你可以通过每月的收入和支出来评估自己的财务状况是否稳健。
计算出每月的抵押贷款、物业税、公用事业费、有线电视费、保险费、上网费、汽车贷款和其他固定支出占税前月收入的比例。比例越高表明你的财务状况越危险──如果你的支出突然增加或收入突然减少，那么事情可能更加难以控制。
10. 支出对存款。大约1个半月以前，你的老板可能给了你一份工资收入报表，其中包括你在2005年对公司退休计划的投入。将这笔钱与2005年个人退休帐户的资金以及你为退休投入的其他款项相加，再将这个数字和工资收入报表上的总收入进行比较。
假设去年你的存款为2,500美元，占总收入50,000美元的5%，其他收入都用于支出和缴纳税款。那么坏消息是：你每年的退休存款也许应该加倍，达到至少5,000美元。好消息是：这做起来并不难。因为将存款比例提高一倍，意味著将你的支出和税款从47,500减至45,000美元──仅需减少5.3%。
