The best financial advisors tell us how important it is to have a diversified portfolio. Unfortunately, that didn't help stock or bond investors much in 2008! Generally, only investors who invested in short-term Treasury instruments, certificates of deposit, and money-market instruments avoided significant losses.
Currently, we are looking at an impasse in Congress over raising the debt-ceiling limit. Some say if there is no agreement by the beginning of August, we are facing a catastrophe in the financial markets. Others say it will be a non-event. I don't know who is right, but I believe that it is important, in order to avoid risks, to understand the available options. Even if we survive the debt-ceiling problem without a significant drop in the financial markets, what will happen to the markets in the event of a terrorist attack?
Conservative investors who maintain a significant percentage of their portfolio in the safest investments -- Treasury Bills, short-term certificates of deposit and money market instruments -- currently obtain returns of less than 1 percent on those instruments. The vast majority of investors cannot continue this strategy on a long-term basis because of inflation. Even if inflation is as low as 3 percent, conservative investors will be losing more than 2 percent a year in purchasing power.
Many readers have written to me indicating they are unwilling to take significant market risk, even though they know that they cannot keep pace with inflation by only investing in the most conservative investment alternatives.
I believe that investors should take some risk on a long-term basis. Otherwise, after years of even relatively low rates of inflation, they will be facing a much lower standard of living in retirement. It is important to be able to structure a portfolio that will provide a reasonable probability of staying ahead of inflation and still protect against significant market drops in both common stock and bond markets. How can this be accomplished?
One way is to look beyond traditional U.S. investments. Some investment advisors and mutual-fund managers spend a great deal of their efforts advising clients to diversify globally and utilize other investment options such as derivatives, stable foreign currencies, and options or futures on commodity indexes, as well as other investments that do not move lockstep with traditional U.S. investments. One mutual fund family, PIMCO, has been very successful with many of their funds because of their expertise in these markets. I have invested successfully for many years in several of PIMCO's funds. One fund that has been very successful for many years is their Total Return D Fund (PTTDX). If you're interested in learning more, I recommend visiting PIMCO's website (www.pimco.com) and reading the insightful comments of William Gross, Mohamed El-Erian and Vineer Bhansali.
Recently, Morningstar Advisor published an article describing Bhansali's philosophy regarding "tail-risk investing." Bhansali defines tail risk is the "risk posed by events that are relatively rare but can have substantial impact on a portfolio." Bhansali, who has a great deal of investment expertise, manages billions of customers' funds in PIMCO's Global Multi-Asset fund (PGAIX) and PIMCO's Real Retirement target-date funds. His philosophy is to guard against "market shocks." He believes "just in time" risk management doesn't work. He believes in a " just in case" philosophy as a long-term insurance policy, and that is how he manages his funds.
For those of you who are very concerned about severe market shocks, as I am, I suggest you look at investment alternatives that can provide you with a reasonable probability of inflation-protected returns, but also give you protection in case of severe market downturns.
Due in part to his legendary six-hour sets, Ti+½sto became one of the world's foremost DJs, routinely performing to thousands of fans at stadiums across the globe, and appearing on magazine covers. Over time, he embraced a more pop-oriented EDM approach on his way to becoming a Grammy-nominated, platinum-certified producer. Several of his albums, mix CDs, and singles have been certified gold, particularly in his native Netherlands. He has received numerous awards and nominations... Read more
Have you heard anyone say this? Perhaps a friend, a client or a student? Maybe it is something you have even said yourself!
I have heard this statement spoken in earnest, many times throughout my three decades of teaching meditation. Yet so many people absolutely love meditation and can’t imagine getting through a day without it!
Research has proven those people are receiving massive benefits through their meditation practice: People who meditate regularly are much better at managing the day to day stress of modern life. They are healthier and more motivated. They even have more effective immune systems, better relationships and less weight issues than people who do not meditate.
We know meditation makes an enormous positive impact on life so why do some people love it and reap the benefits and some others not enjoy it at all and find it useless for them? The answer is so very simple! We all have a particular learning style. Often we have more than one but usually one learning style is predominant in each person. There are lots of different models of learning style that have been developed over the years, but we don’t need to get to complicated here.
These people need to see. They often have very visual minds and can picture things very clearly. They often think in pictures or a combination of pictures and words. We might say they have vivid imaginations.
These people need to Hear. They often think in words and can have trouble seeing or making pictures in their minds. They are particularly good at giving and following verbal instructions and using language.
These people need to do, touch or feel. They need to experience. They may think in a combination of words and pictures but are more inclined to think in emotions or feelings. They are often quite artistic and/or physical.
We all fit into one of these groups. Some of us may belong to more than one category but one will be the predominant learning style.
When it comes to practicing meditation, these learning styles play a major role in determining which of the many styles of meditation will best suit the individual.
If you are a visual learner, you will enjoy and benefit most from meditations that are visual, like creative visualization or guided imagery. If you are an auditory learner you will probably not enjoy nor benefit much from practicing creative visualization. You may not ‘see’ what you feel you are supposed to see and creative visualization will feel like a chore to you. Visual learners may enjoy meditating on mandalas or staring into paintings where their imaginations will take them on a beautiful meditative adventure.
Auditory learners like to hear. These people will get the most out of meditations that incorporate sounds or instructions (words.) They are more likely to enjoy mantra meditations (repeating words or a phrase) or meditating to music where they can become lost in the sound, ‘riding’ the wave of the music. These people can also benefit from Zen style ‘listening’ meditations where the goal is to concentrate solely on what sounds can be heard or even meditating on the sound and vibration of gongs, chimes or meditation bowls.
A Kinesthetic or tactile learner may really enjoy concentrative meditation where they might sit and stare at a candles flame or the oceans waves, allowing their mind to become completely absorbed in the experience of doing. These individuals often also enjoy focusing on breathing and active meditations like walking meditations or dance meditations. A Visual learner however is likely to find concentrative meditation boring as their minds want to be ‘seeing’ something.
If you or someone you know has tried meditation and found the experience to be less than enjoyable, you (or they) have probably tried or been shown the wrong type of meditation for the individual learning style.
The benefits of meditation are amazing and huge! Well worth incorporating into any lifestyle to improve health and satisfaction in living.
Meditation must be something that is not only healthy but also enjoyable. When you find the right meditation that best suits you individually, you will find yourself enthusiastically making time to meditate. You will also start to see for yourself the many wonderful side effects of meditation that the ancients knew and clinical research has since proven.