September 2010 Issue
| COVER ARTICLE
Your most important long-term investing decision isn't choosing which specific stocks or mutual funds to buy. Rather, it's deciding how much of your portfolio to invest in stocks vs. fixed-income (typically bonds). William Bernstein explains why this is the case in this month's cover story an excerpt from his recent book, The Investor's Manifesto. He also offers a framework to help you make this key decision, based on how you reacted to the 2007-2009 bear market. |
| EDITORIAL
Investing history tells us that even during the stock market's "worst of times," perseverance has rewarded the steadfast. |
| LEVEL 4
In a lingering low-interest rate environment, preferred stocks offer a way for yield-hungry investors to boost their income. |
| LEVEL 3
Though the reasons remain debatable, the evidence strongly suggests that you can boost your returns by investing at a particular time of the month. |
| LEVEL 2
"Ginnie Mae" funds tend to offer returns about 1% per year higher than funds invested in high-quality short-term bonds. But be warned: this road to better yields can be a bumpy one. |
| LEVEL 1
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 prohibits issuance of a credit card to anyone under age 21 unless the young person has an adult co-signer or an "independent means" of repayment. We explain what this means for young adults heading to campus this fall. |
| LOOKING AHEAD
A strong sense of career direction can help young people avoid costly trial and error when planning and pursuing their educational path. |

