Investments, tenth edition

  DESIGNING A PORTFOLIO 

 Because your asset mix is so important, some mutual fund 

companies now offer free services to help investors design 

their portfolios. 

 Gerald Perritt, editor of the  

Mutual Fund Letter,  a 

 Chicago newsletter, says you should vary your mix of assets 

depending on how long you plan to invest. The further 

away your investment horizon, the more you should have 

in stocks. The closer you get, the more you should lean 

toward bonds and money-market instruments, such as 

Treasury bills. Bonds and money-market instruments may 

generate lower returns than stocks. But for those who 

need money in the near future, conservative investments 

make more sense, because there’s less chance of suffering a 

devastating short-term loss.