- Budgeting
- Cash Management
- Consumer and Mortgage Loans
- Debt and Debt Reduction
- Time Value of Money 1: Present and Future Value
- Time Value of Money 2: Inflation, Real Returns, Annuities, and Amortized Loans
- Insurance 1: Basics
- Insurance 2: Life Insurance
- Insurance 3: Health, Long-term Care, and Disability Insurance
- Insurance 4: Auto, Homeowners, and Liability Insurance
- The Home Decision
- The Auto Decision
- Family 1: Money and Marriage
- Family 2: Teaching Children Financial Responsibility
- Family 3: Financing Children’s Education and Missions
- Investments A: Key Lessons of Investing
- Investments B: Key Lessons of Investing
Introduction
You have reviewed the principles of successful investing. These principles are critical to understanding, developing, and implementing a successful investment portfolio. In addition, you have reviewed the investment hourglass, a learning tool to help you understand that investing is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Investing is a way to achieve your personal and family financial goals—it should not be an end in itself.
This section will give a brief review of the priority of money and how it is used to select and implement specific investment vehicles. It will next discuss briefly the major asset classes, and then discuss, mainly in graphical form, the risk and return history of the major asset classes.
When you have completed this section, you should be able to do the following:
- Understand and use the priority of money.
- Understand the risks and benefits of the major asset classes.
- Understand the return history of the major asset classes.
Properly prepare yourself to invest and understand what you will be investing in before you begin your investment program; these are important keys to success.
