The best investment portfolio for 2010 and beyond will hold stocks, bonds, and money market securities. Finding the best investment in each area is not possible or necessary. Coming up with YOUR best investment mix is. Let’s review your investment options.

I’ll keep it simple. If you invest at all you have an investment portfolio, which is simply a list of the investments you own. For example, if you have a 401k plan you probably picked a few different investment options from a list. Most of your choices were likely mutual funds. Even if you knew not what you were doing, you put together your own investment mix, your own portfolio. The question is whether or not this is the best investment mix for you.

If you are like 90% of the investors I’ve known and worked with as a financial planner, you don’t really understand this stuff. That’s why you should be invested in stock funds, bond funds and money market funds vs. individual securities like stocks and bonds. When you own funds professional money managers pick the stocks and bonds etc. for you and a pool of other investors. But you need to pick the appropriate mix of funds.

So, let’s take a look at the securities or funds you might own or be considering, and see if changes might be in order. I say “might own” because most people are not sure what they really hold in their investment portfolio. Sound familiar? Let’s start with your safe investments like bank CDs and money market securities. If you have cash invested in a money market fund, you have money market securities in your portfolio. The bad news is that you are earning very little in your safe investments. The good news is that you have a high degree of safety. Don’t keep all of your money here, but don’t bail out just because interest rates are low, either.

If you are risk adverse don’t be afraid to have 50% (or more if you are retired and older) of your investment mix safely invested. Sooner or later interest rates will go up… which brings us to the next area of investment options you might own. Bonds and bond funds (also called income funds) pay more interest, and billions of dollars flowed into bond funds in 2009 from every-day investors chasing higher interest rates. Check and see if any of your mutual funds fall into this category.

Income funds or bond funds probably treated you OK over the years, but this will change in a hurry when interest rates go up. Interest rates were at highs in the early 1980′s. They were at historical lows in 2009. When rates go up money market funds should be good investments and pay more interest in the form of dividends. Bond funds or income funds will lose money. That’s not a theory. That’s the way bonds work. If bonds or bond funds are a large part of your investment mix, or you are considering long-term bond funds, think twice. The risk is significant. Your best investment here is short-term and intermediate-term quality bond funds.

Now let’s look at the third category of investments you probably own or should own… stocks, commonly in the form of equity funds. These are the investment options that have likely caused you heartburn and acid indigestion over the past several years. There’s more risk here, but greater profit potential as well. The best investment mix for most investors: about 50% in stocks, preferably spread across a VARIETY of equity funds. Conservative folks might want to cut this to 25% or even less, but all investors should be familiar with the variety of equity funds that are available to them.

First, you need a GENERAL DIVERSIFIED domestic (U.S.) equity fund that basically tracks the U.S. stock market’s performance. Then, add a diversified international fund that invests in a broad range of foreign equities. You now have a leg up on most investors who miss opportunity by not investing abroad. You may want to add a small-cap or mid-cap fund that invests in smaller companies, because these funds can outperform in some market environments. Finally, consider non-diversified equity funds that specialize in stock sectors like real estate, natural resources, basic materials and precious metals for a smaller portion of your allocation to stocks.

The best investment portfolio going forward will contain stocks, bonds, and money market securities; but you will need to give your investment mix the attention it deserves. Hold some safe investments, avoid long-term bonds, and diversify your stock holdings. Uncertainty and risk in the investment markets is likely to remain high. When in doubt diversify across the three investment areas and within each of them.

A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.

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The green investment industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in last few years. Green Investments use traditional investment vehicles like stock, equities, funds or mutual funds, but the underlying business will generally be involved in projects to improve the environment. Often these projects support development of renewable energies.

Key facts about renewable energy:

• Global revenues for renewable energy grew from $75.8 billion in 2007 to $115.9 billion in 2008
• New global investments in energy technologies expanded from $148.4 billion in 2007 to $155.4 billion in 2008

Investors interested in green investment can choose from variety of investment areas:

1. Geothermal – works on the system of getting heat from the earth’s core and use it as a energy source. The main positives are: low carbon emissions, because most activity takes place underground, and as there are minimum requirements on the land, the cost to generate electricity is very low. The most popular areas are Iceland, Hawaii and New Zealand. In the Philippines,geothermal power provides 18% of their energy, thanks to the volcano.

2. Green Buildings – buildings which are constructed to save as much energy as possible and to produce energy on their own.

3. Wind Power – one of the most common ways of investing into green energy. Wind energy is currently the fastest growing of all the renewables. Wind energy projects increase every year by 25% globally. The main pushing factors for this increase are climate change targets set up globally between governments. The Global Wind Energy Council predicts that the global wind market will grow by over 155% of its currents size to achieve 240GW of installed capacity by 2012. The most efficient way how to absorb the wind power and to generate as much energy as it is possible is through wind farm. A Wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location which produce electricity. The main types of farms are: off shore and on shore farms.
Key facts about wind energy:

• At the end of 2008 the world wind farm capacity was around 120,791 MW – increase of 28.8 % compare to previous year
• In 2008 the wind power produced 1.3% of global electricity consumption
• The main European producers are: Spain, Denmark, Portugal and UK

4. Solar energy – Has a great potential to be one of the top green investment vehicles. Every day our earth hits enough solar energy to supply our demand for electricity for 27 years. The more sophisticated problem is to convert this energy into electricity at still efficient cost. There are two main solar technologies groups:

a. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) – this industry is currently worth around $50 billion annually
b. Solar Thermal Power

5. Waste Management – is monitoring of waste materials which involves collecting, transport and processing of waste.

• The average person in European Union disposes of 1200 lbs of trash per year
• The average person in USA disposes of 1700 lbs of trash per year
• Total number of trash per year for EU is: 1.3 billion ton
• Total number of trash per year for USA is: 260 million tons

In the article above I have tried to cover most common and important areas in which investors interested in green investment can invest. The other areas, also important are Hydrogen and Fuels Cells, Power storage, Renewable Developers, Smart Grids or Wave and Tidal. Let’s hope that in the future more and more companies as well as single investors will be interested in Green Investments.

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In every investment, there are things every individual should consider in order to maintain a smooth running and attain your future goals. For instance, avoid changing your job every now and then. It’s important to maintain your job because when applying for a loan, your lenders will demand a record of your job history. In the same way, you should avoid changing from one bank to the other since some lenders will hardly approve your loan without a good bank statement for a certain period of time.

If you are purchasing a house, avoid using your credit card on other unnecessary things since this could add new bills. Finalize on your house first and avoid buying expensive items even if you are on a well paying job overspending. Consider the location of your investment. For instance, your new house should be located near your working place to minimize cost on fuel if you are to use your car. Sometimes, even big companies face financial difficulties forcing them to recruit some of their employees. You could be forced to file bankruptcy especially if you have added new bills therefore be careful on your spending.

There is no investment that has a 100 percent guaranteed profit. In fact, there must be risks and returns at one time or the other. With this in mind, avoid involving yourself with other investors who promise a 100 per sent returns. Instead, do your own research and understand the investment before making your final decision. If the investors can not provide you with details and records regarding the business, just quit to avoid your money going into waste.

Some people end up purchasing the wrong things because they have been persuaded by the salesmen. Avoid such people and always take time to investigate goods before you decide whether or not to buy. Avoid getting tempted by investors who advertise their investments online since most of them are not legitimate. They are con men who rely on other people’s money.

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Condominiums

The residents share a type of housing in which owners live in one part and the remaining part is shared commonly. The value of this type of housing is generally lower than a private house governed by the series of bylaws and agreements that each of the residents has signed. Appropriate governance raises the value of condominium and inappropriate governance lowers it value. Overall, the value of this type of housing fluctuates but as a lot of people together owns the property; there is no problem in the annual maintenance and other external repairs.

Private Houses

The value of a private house is much higher due to privacy and space; however, because of its high price it remains unoccupied for a longer period of time. There is no mechanism to ensure that its value will not depreciate due to the negligence of its occupant. However, property owners can always pay more attention and care to the house than the tenants can.

Multifamily Housing

It is a type of housing where many individual housing units live inside one building. The main advantages of investing in multifamily housing, as residential investment in property is that for most of the time residents occupy it, which is not true in the case of private, or condominium property. As there are, several housing units in one building or apartment it makes for an ideal income source that solves the problem of depending on one specific source of income.

Following are few reasons for investing in Residential Property:

• It is necessary to invest 100 per cent in most of the investment plans but you can purchase a home with small amount of payments.
• Tax Benefit
• You can deduct local property taxes and interest on mortgage from your tax returns. Your property taxes are completely deductible from your tax return.
• You can borrow the loan against your equity and thus, deduct the payment of interest on loan. It is a sort of double dipping on your debt.
• There are various incentives for first time homeowners and those who qualify for VA loans. However, these incentives have become extinct and politically unpopular.
• If the value of your property increases, you can make a profit by selling it. All or some part of your profit is exempt from the federal taxes.

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Putting money in a scheme is not something to be taken for granted. One needs to have a specific reason for doing so. The reason could be that one is saving for his children education, or saving to buy a home in future. With such goals in mind, one is able to choose the right kind of security. You therefore need to carry out a market survey to achieve this goal.

When you know why you are putting your money in a scheme, you are then able to measure the kind of return to expect. This is to say that once you know which type of security to buy, you are in a position to calculate the rate of return to expect. In most cases this will be determined by the market trends, but if you check out the performance of that security in the past, you will get a general idea of what to expect.

As you venture into the stock market, beware that there are many types of securities that you can buy. One way to determine which one to go for and which one to avoid is by comparing the risk versus the return. They both tend to move towards the same direction in that, as one increases the other one does too. This way, you will be able to determine whether the scheme is achievable or not.

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Understanding your investment options may be simpler than you think. All investment opportunities can be placed into one of four categories. Where you should invest money to make money depends on your financial objectives. Do you want to save money or do you want to invest it? Here are your four choices, starting with the safest.

SAVE MONEY: If you are not in a position to invest money and accept even a moderate level of risk stick with cash equivalents and savings plans. Examples include T-bills, money market accounts, money market funds, Savings Bonds, CDs, and the fixed or stable account in 401k and similar retirement plans. All of these investment options pay interest and your principal (the money you invested) is safe.

BONDS: The financial objective when you invest money here is to earn more interest than you normally do in savings plans or in cash equivalents. Risk is at least moderate since bond values are not fixed and the price of bonds fluctuates. Examples include T-bonds, corporate bonds, municipals, and bond funds.

STOCKS: Investment opportunities in stocks involve more risk than the two general investment options above. Stocks are the primary growth investment for most investors, and stock prices can be volatile at times. But if you want to make money over the long term and stay ahead of inflation and income taxes, you should invest money here. Examples include domestic (U.S.) equities (stocks), foreign equities, growth stocks and value stocks.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS: If you are looking for growth investment opportunities outside of the stock market and/or want to offset the risk of owning equities consider other (alternative) investments. Examples include real estate, precious metals, foreign investments, and natural resources like oil. When you invest money here risk can be significant and so can the profit potential.

That’s it. Those are your four basic choices if you want to save money or make money investing. Don’t expect to make big profits in savings plans or in bonds under normal circumstances. And don’t expect to get safety if you pursue bigger profits in stocks or alternative investments.

Smart investors take advantage of investment opportunities and are willing to accept a moderate level of risk. They invest in all four of the above investment options.

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While investing online, one has to ensure that they have the correct mindset to go into the future business. One has to have a definite aim and plan accordingly to reach a successful stance. There are many areas that have to be given the importance and prioritized when an online advertisement is designed. Not all the avenues can be catered to by a single individual who owns the website. Hence it is always advisable to allocate work to the specific task holders and segregate the work according to their expertise. It is not always done this way, however by dividing the work in a professional manner helps in achieving success.

It is always what one gets is what one pays for. So there is absolutely no point in saving money by getting things done free in an online investment. One has to look at the long term benefits before making any kind of decisions pertaining to finances or the investment amount. One has to be sure that the job has to be done right with the right kind of knowledge. This will ensure that one does not really try and save money initially and end up losing more than what they actually try and save, at the end of the complete process.

One has to keep imposing a lot of questions to oneself when considering the correct recruit for online marketing efforts. By asking questions, one finds out answers that will provide solutions to the requirement. This in turn aids in making the right decision for the existing situation. Thus online marketing is just not another job that is carried out but it’s an investment into the individual’s future. Each and every decision taken is important and by investing online with all the above mentioned points in mind, one is sure to have the investment to success.

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