Keep it simple, sweetheart.

Our lives can get very complicated these days.  With all the high-tech gadgets and all the consumer choices we have at our command, we can get away from the simple things in life that really make life worthwhile.  Like.....spending more time with our families or getting outside and doing some low-tech activities such as walking, gardening, swimming, or playing volleyball and the like.  Most of us have well over a hundred cable channels to choose from, but, let's be honest, how many do you actually enjoy?  I know I routinely watch less than a dozen or so channels, and the choice of programs are not all that great on the ones that I do watch.  I probably watched more TV and enjoyed the programs more when I was a kid and we only had 2 channels to choose from.  (I know, I getting old.)  I guess my point is that more choices don't necessarily make for better choices.  And I think the same holds true for choices in the investment world.  Take mutual funds, for example.  The total number of mutual funds has risen from 361 in 1970 to over 8,000 today.  Are we, the investing public, any better off with the massive increase in the number of funds?  We certainly have more choices, but how to we glean from this multitude of  funds the few that will be useful in helping us reach our investment goals?  How do we separate the wheat from the chaff?  How do I go about setting up an investment portfolio of mutual funds that will allow me to accomplish my financial objectives given the current state of the economy and the high level of volatility exhibited by the stock market lately? 

I have four words of comforting advice for you:  Keep it simple, sweetheart.  (Or if you're a guy, keep it simple, stud.  How's that?  I know the standard phrase is "keep it simple, stupid" but I don't like to use the word stupid here because anyone smart enough to be reading this newsletter is definitely not stupid, in my humble opinion!) I think you will find that investing can be successful if you follow a few simple steps in the implementation of your investment plan and you stick to that plan.  Investing does not have to be complicated but it does need to be orderly and rational.  So, with that in mind, next week my newsletter will contain the first step in the orderly process of establishing an investment program.  Each week, my newsletter will take you over a different step of the process until we have covered the basics of setting up your investment portfolio. Stayed tuned. 

Sealed with a K.I.S.S.,
Randy
randy@mooreadviser.com