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Mutual fund investors seeking a simple solution for conservative, long-term growth need look no further than a single low-cost global balanced fund. But problematically many retail investors or their advisers are unnecessarily, and sometimes erroneously, messing about with these elegant all-in-one funds.
Dan Hallett, director of asset management for HighView Financial Group, brought up this concern during a recent conversation we had on the topic of smart investing. While the appeal of balanced funds is well known to many investors, Hallett says most people are using them in ways that completely defy their intended use. “Typically, the way I’ve seen balanced funds used is that they’re one of six to eight funds in a portfolio, and not the one fund,” he says. “It doesn’t matter if you have $25,000 or $250,000. One good, reasonably priced balanced fund can take you far dollar-wise. You could do it well into a six-figure portfolio.”
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Hallett’s observations are spot-on…

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“It is our belief that Better Investors will experience higher returns, and be more comfortable and confident in the process.” -Steadyhand Investment Funds
I took some time recently to read Steadyhand’s free whitepaper called Five Essential Elements to Being a Better Investor.  It was well worth the read.  Here are Steadyhand’s five essential elements.
Be Realistic
Regardless what any financial guru might want you to believe, they cannot predict the future.  Otherwise, they would have retired long ago.  Steadyhand said this in the paper to set expectations going forward:
“In the short term, you should expect anything and everything from the markets, including big ups and downs that nobody predicted. For growth-oriented investors, the ups and downs could be 15-25% in any given year. Even conservatively positioned portfolios will go down from quarter to quarter, and even year to year. But remember, attractive long-term returns include plenty of bad short-term periods.”
Have a Long-term Plan
Without a plan you are probably planning to fail…

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Curious about annuities but not quite sure how they work? Here’s a great primer video: