SoFi

When it comes to investing, most people start with What. What should I invest in? What should my portfolio strategy be? What stock should I invest in?

But there’s actually a more important place to start: Why. Why do you want to invest in the first place? Why are you building a portfolio?

Selecting an investment strategy largely depends on your financial goals. This is sometimes an overlooked first step in building a sound investment strategy.

You can’t plan the right portfolio unless you know what you want to save for, how much you want to save, and when you’d like to use that money.

You might think of building an investment strategy as a top-down approach. Start with the big picture idea of what you want to accomplish. Then, hone in on the strategy that makes the most sense given those goals. Should you even be in stocks, or in bonds? Or should your money be held in cash? Or, should you do something else entirely?

Setting Your Financial Goals

First, you may want to consider these two recommended goals: Creating an emergency fund and saving for retirement. These are sometimes referred to as “bookend goals, because they are your primary short-term and primary long-term financial goals. From there, how you prioritize your other goals is entirely up to you.

Creating an Emergency Fund

Your emergency fund is a lump sum that you can easily access should an emergency arise—for example, if you get laid off or face unexpected health costs. It is common knowledge that this fund be three to six times your monthly spend, depending on how risk-averse and well-insured you are.

Consider Asking Yourself:
•   How much do I spend each month?
•   How much of that is necessary spending, and how much is discretionary?
•   How many months’ expenses would I like to have saved?
•   Do I have dependents or others that live off my income?
•   What’s my target emergency fund?

Creating a Retirement Fund

Retirement may be your largest long-term financial goal, and even if it feels very far away, it’s helpful to start saving early. Why? The earlier you start saving, the more time your money has to work for you.

Consider Asking Yourself:
•   At what age do you want to retire? For those born after 1960, full Social Security full Social Security retirement age is 67 .
•   How much money do you need to live on each year (in today’s dollars)?
•   How long do you expect to live? Statistically, those born in the 1980s have a life expectancy of about 79 years, but to be safe (and optimistic), you may want to plan for (much) longer.
•   What do you currently have saved for this goal? You may want to use a retirement calculator to see if you are on track.

Your In-Between Goals: Houses, Families, Businesses, and More

How you prioritize everything in-between your emergency fund and retirement depends entirely on you. For example, do you want to buy a home? Start a family? Launch a business? Go on an epic month-long vacation? Many of the above?

Any goal you can think of is on the table. You may want to be specific—exactly how much money you need to achieve each goal, and by when. Why? If you’re specific, you’ll have a much higher likelihood of reaching that target, when the time comes to use that money, you’ll have already given yourself permission and can enjoy it.

Consider Asking Yourself:
•   What is your goal?
•   When do you need the money?
•   How much do you need?
•   How much can you save each month?
•   What may be some obstacles that could come up?

Starting Your Investment Strategy

As you’ve seen in the exercises above, each of your goals has a specific time horizon. This leads to an underlying investment strategy: Generally speaking, the longer the time horizon, the more risk you can afford to take, because you can weather market volatility.

When making a decision about how to build a portfolio, you may want to keep in mind that risk and reward are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other.

There is no such thing as an investment that is high reward with no risk. (If someone promises such an arrangement to you, you may want to run for the hills—it’s probably a scam.)

Oftentimes, risk comes in the form of volatility, which is how much the price of an investment type fluctuates. Although these fluctuations are often temporary, it can take months or even years for returns to even back out to their historical averages.

Short Term (Less Than Three Years)

For goals like: Setting up an emergency fund, travel, buying a new car.

A good rule of thumb is to keep any money you need within the next three years “liquid,” or available to access as soon as you need it. For example, the whole point of having emergency cash is to have access to that money without worry.

Additionally, it is unlikely that you will want to subject money designated for the short term to the volatility of investments like the stock market. The biggest risk you take with short-term money is losing any of it at all, so you’ll probably want to keep it in cash.

If you have a higher risk tolerance, you can consider investing some money for short-term goals in a conservative portfolio that will pay a higher interest than a savings account, but that still has a low risk of losing money. If you go this route, you may want to remain flexible about when and how you tap into those investments.

Your cash can be held in a savings account of your choosing. You may elect to keep this cash in an interest-bearing savings account where you can earn interest on your cash savings. You may even find it helpful to open multiple savings accounts, giving them distinct names, in order to keep track of your various goals.

Medium Term (Five to 10 Years)

For goals like: Home purchase, starting a family.

With a time horizon of five to 10 years, you may be able to afford taking some risk with your money and give it a greater chance to grow. For these types of goals, you could potentially choose a moderate or moderately conservative portfolio.

Depending on your comfort level, this portfolio may hold a combination of cash, other fixed-income investments, like bonds, and some stocks.

More than likely, you’ll hold these investments in an investment account, which is sometimes also called a brokerage account.

For goals where you’re investing money for the mid-term, it generally does not make sense to use a retirement account like a 401(k) or Traditional IRA. You could be penalized for pulling the money out before retirement.

Medium to Long Term (10-20 Years)

For goals like: Child’s college savings, second home

With a time horizon of 10-20 years, you may be able to afford taking more risk with your money in order to take advantage of the power of compounding.

Depending on your comfort level, you may want to consider a moderate to moderately aggressive portfolio. Generally, the longer your investing timeline, the more risk you can take. This may mean building in a higher allocation to stocks and bonds.

Investments for goals with a pre-retirement timeline should be held in an investment or brokerage account. For a child’s college, consider using a 529 Plan which provides some tax benefits to those that are saving for the purpose of higher education.

Long Term (20+ Years)

For goals like: Retirement, financial independence

For long-term goals, time may be on your side. Having several decades or more gives a portfolio time to weather the ups and downs of the market and economic cycles. This allows an investor to take on more risk with the hope of more reward.

With this in mind, you may want to focus on aggressive growth while you are young, and then shift to a more conservative investment allocation over time. Depending on your comfort with the stock market, this may mean allocating a majority of your portfolio to the stock market or other high-risk, high-reward investments.

To save for retirement, you may want to consider investing in an online IRA, a 401(k) plan, or some other retirement-specific account. Retirement accounts have benefits when it comes to taxes, such as deferment on paying taxes until you withdraw from your 401k, or the ability to withdraw contributions from your Roth IRA early without penalties.

What’s Next?

Once you’ve outlined your goals, you’ve completed the first step of investing.

A good second step? Learning more about the investment options that are available to you. This will aid you in building a portfolio that will help you achieve your goals.

A good place to start is learning the different asset classes and their respective risk and reward profiles. If you are going to be invested in something, it’s helpful to know what to expect. Proper expectations may make you a more successful long-term investor.

Another option is to set up a complimentary appointment with a SoFi financial planner, who can help you define and quantify your goals and discuss the potential investment strategies to reach them. With SoFi Invest, this service is complimentary.

Depending on how involved you would like to be, SoFi has options for building your own investing portfolio or having an automated portfolio built for you, with your goals in mind. There are no associated costs or fees with utilizing either investing option.

Investing isn’t just for the wealthy; it’s for anyone who wants to achieve financial goals. There are low-cost, simple, and effective investing options that are accessible to investors of all sizes. You could get started today with a few clicks.

But before you do, you may want to spend some time thinking about what you’re investing for. Naming your goals will help guide you towards an appropriate investment portfolio. As a bonus, thinking deeply about goals may just help you to find the motivation to stick with them.

Interested in investing, now that you know where to start? Check out SoFi Invest® today.

---

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.

WM17136

Read more

When it comes to the stock market, things can change—rapidly. Numerous factors impacting the value of individual stocks and the market as a whole can translate into being up one day, down the next. And try as they might, it can be near impossible for analysts to predict how the stock market will fare.

While the markets can be unpredictable, fluctuation is a sign that the stock market is working normally. As an investor, it’s important to get comfortable with the market’s volatility. Understanding how risk plays a role in investing can help inform the investing decisions you make for yourself.

What Is Investment Risk?

All investments come with risk. Unlike when you store your money in a savings account, investing has no guarantees that you’ll earn a return. When you invest, experiencing a financial loss is a possibility.

Different types of investments come with different levels of risk. Typically, as the risk increases, so do the potential returns. Understanding the types of risks associated with investing can be the key to informing your risk tolerance.

Types of Investment Risk

Just as there are a variety of investment vehicles, there are a number of different types of risk involved in investing. Here are a few common kinds:

Market Risk

Sometimes global economic trends, like a recession, or current events, like a natural disaster or political turmoil, can impact how the markets perform. Market risk refers to the potential for an investor to experience losses due to factors that are influencing the financial markets as a whole.

This type of risk is often referred to as systematic risk. The four most common types of market risk include interest rate, equity, commodity, and currency risk.

Interest rate risk reflects the market fluctuations that might occur after a change in interest rates is announced. Fixed-income investments, like bonds, are the investments that are most likely to be influenced by interest rate risk.

Equity risk refers specifically to the risk investors face from market volatility—the possibility that the value of shares will decrease.

Commodity risk comes from price fluctuations in commodities (raw materials) that impacts the users and producers of those same materials.

Currency risk is also known as exchange-rate risk. It stems from the price differences when comparing one currency to another. This type of risk is most relevant to investors who have assets in a foreign country or companies who have a lot of activities abroad.

Inflation Risk

Inflation measures the increase of the cost of goods over a set period of time and a rise in inflation means consumers have less purchasing power. Inflation risk is a concern for investors that have money saved in accounts with fixed interest rates, because the rate of inflation may outpace the fixed interest rate being earned.

Business Risk

When you buy a stock, you’re essentially buying a small share of the company. In order to make a possible return on your investment, the company you’ve invested in needs to remain in business. If a company goes out of business, common stockholders are likely the last to get paid, if at all.

Liquidity Risk

This type of risk reflects the concern that investors won’t find a market for their holdings when they ultimately do decide to sell their investments. This could prevent investors from buying and selling assets as desired; they may have to sell for a lower price, if they are able to sell at all.

This risk could also apply to investments with strict term limits like a certificate of deposit (CD). Account holders would typically face a penalty from withdrawing or liquidating this account before the specified time.

Horizon Risk

In investing, a time horizon is the amount of time you have until a specific financial goal.

A lengthy time horizon could potentially allow you to take on riskier investments, since if you do suffer a loss, your investments will have more time to rebound.

Horizon risk occurs when the time horizon of an investment is unexpectedly shortened—like, say, by an unexpected, expensive medical emergency.

On the other side of the spectrum, investors in or nearing retirement could face the risk of outliving their savings. This is referred to as longevity risk.

Concentration Risk

This type of risk can occur when an investor is invested in a limited number of assets or owns assets only in one category or asset class. If that one category experiences losses, so will a concentrated investment portfolio.

The Investment Risk Pyramid

Remember the food pyramid? Before MyPlate , the food pyramid was the gold standard of nutrition in the U.S. It recommended a hearty foundation of grains, followed by a smaller layer of fruits and veggies, followed by an even smaller layer of dairy, meats, beans, eggs, and nuts. At the very top, making up the smallest portion of the pyramid were fats, oils, and sweets.

The investment risk pyramid takes a similar approach, and could prove helpful if you’re looking for guidance as you’re evaluating the risks associated with different types of investments.

It may help you understand which investments pose the greatest risk, and can assist you in creating a portfolio that falls in line with your personal risk tolerance.

At the base of the pyramid are lower risk investments that have the potential to earn foreseeable returns. These investments create the foundation of a financial portfolio. Low risk investments typically include things like government bonds, CDs, money market accounts, and savings accounts.

In the middle of the pyramid are investments with moderate risk. These investments will be a little riskier than the base of the pyramid, but will hopefully lead to capital appreciation. Investments like high-income government bonds, real estate, equity mutual funds, and large and small cap stocks would fall into this category.

The riskiest investments are at the peak of the pyramid. Just like sweets, fats, and oils should make up a limited portion of your diet, these investments are generally recommended to only make up a relatively small portion of your overall investment portfolio.

Since these investments are so risky, some guidelines suggest only investing money that, if lost, won’t cause serious issues in your day-to-day life.

As you continue building your investment portfolio, it’s helpful to know that although the investment risk pyramid can be a useful tool, it’s just a guideline. Just as everyone’s dietary and nutritional needs are different, so are individual investment portfolios.Take it with a grain of salt.

Managing Risk

Here’s the thing about investing—risk is an unavoidable reality. While you won’t be able to eliminate risk completely, there are strategies to help you manage the investment risks your portfolio is subject to.

Understanding Your Financial Goals and Risk Tolerance

The first step in managing risk will be determining your risk tolerance—how much risk you are willing to take on as an investor. Your financial goals could help inform your risk tolerance. Consider asking yourself what you want to use your money for and then figuring out the timeline for when you’ll need it.

The amount of time you have to invest will likely influence the type of investments you make with your money.

For example, if you are saving for retirement in 40 years, you may be able to take on more risk than someone who plans to retire, in say, 10 years.

Try as we might, we can’t plan for everything and life can change quickly. As it does, it can be helpful to re-check your financial goals and re-assess your risk tolerance to see if any changes are necessary.

For example, if you’ve recently had a child, you may want to integrate a college fund into your financial plan. Or perhaps you and your partner have decided you want to upgrade to a bigger house before growing your family.

Diversifying Your Portfolio

With a diversified portfolio, your money isn’t concentrated into one specific area. Instead, it’s spread across different asset classes—like stocks, bonds, and real estate—the money isn’t concentrated in one specific area within each asset class.

While it can be tempting to concentrate your investments into areas you are most familiar with, limiting yourself to only a few industries or types of investments can be the financial equivalent of putting all of your eggs in one basket.

A diversified portfolio can provide some insulation to risk. If your portfolio is highly concentrated in one area and that sector takes a dip, it’s likely your portfolio will be impacted.

But if your portfolio is balanced across varied assets and classes, the impact of one underperforming section won’t be felt as dramatically. While a diversified portfolio won’t eliminate risk, it could help make your portfolio a little less vulnerable.

You could choose to diversify your portfolio through a series of thoughtful investments. As an alternative, you could also choose to invest in mutual funds or ETFs—exchange-traded funds.

When you buy shares in a mutual fund, you are automatically invested in each company that is included in the fund, which provides instant diversification. ETFs, on the other hand, bundle a group of securities together in one neat package and they can be a low-cost way to diversify your portfolio.

Monitoring Your Investments

It can be tempting to set it and forget it when it comes to investments. But keeping an eye on your portfolio is another step that could potentially help you manage risk. You won’t know there is an issue unless you monitor progress.

As the market fluctuates, your portfolio likely will, too. Consider setting a recurring time to monitor your holdings. It doesn’t have to be every day, but once a week or even once a month could be a good idea.

How have the assets been performing? Is your portfolio still in line with your current risk preferences? If not, consider taking the time to make adjustments so you’re comfortable with where your investments stand.

Regularly checking in with your investments will also allow you to monitor your progress and see if you’re still on track with your goals.

Asking for Help

Investing can be confusing. Sometimes all it takes a second set of (experienced) eyes to provide a bit of clarity. Don’t feel like you have to build your investment portfolio in a vacuum.

Consider speaking with a financial advisor who can assist you in creating a personalized financial plan that is designed to help you achieve your specific goals.

Know that financial advisors often charge fees for their services, but they can often provide valuable insight and advice. SoFi members have access to one-on-one advice with certified financial professionals, at absolutely no cost.

Becoming an Investor

Now that you understand how risk impacts investments and some of the ways to manage risk, you might be ready to build your investment portfolio. Investing can be a good way to grow your wealth in the long term. And the good news is it’s never too early or too late.

If you’re ready to get started, consider an account with SoFi Invest®, which offers a variety of options so you can invest in line with your personal risk preferences and financial goals.

For those that like to be in the driver’s seat—there’s active investing. You can buy and sell stocks, creating a completely personalized portfolio without any fees.

Investors who prefer to take a less intensive approach can opt for an automated account. You won’t have to worry about tracking individual stock prices and making timely trades. The account will do most of the work for you, automatically rebalancing to stay in line with your specified risk preference.

And SoFi offers a range of exchange-traded funds. SoFi offers four different types of ETFs that are intelligently weighted and are automatically rebalanced, so they’re always at the forefront of growing industry.

Ready to start managing your investment risks? Learn more about ETF investing and how they can help you make the most of your investments.

---

Investment Risk: Diversification can help reduce some investment risk. It cannot guarantee profit, or fully protect in a down market.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
Automated Investing—The Automated Investing platform is owned by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (“Sofi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC, an affiliated SEC registered broker dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, (“SoFi Securities”).
Active Investing—The Active Investing platform is owned by SoFi Securities LLC. Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation.
Advisory services are offered through SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Information about SoFi Wealth’s advisory operations, services, and fees is set forth in SoFi Wealth’s current Form ADV Part 2 (Brochure), a copy of which is available upon request and at adviserinfo.sec.gov .

SOIN19143

Read more

The big ol’ world of investing can feel overwhelming to navigate. There are stocks, bonds, commodities, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds, to name a few.

With so many choices, it can be hard to nail down just where to start.

The confusion is especially real for investors who are just getting into the game, whether it’s because they are young, earning more for the first time, or are finally ready to invest after paying down student loans.

One investment type that has gained in popularity with all types of investors, both new and seasoned, is the exchange-traded fund. This investment type is more commonly referred to by its acronym, “ETF.”

How do ETFs work? An ETF is an investment fund that you can buy and sell like a stock, but that potentially bundles together some other investment types, such as bonds.

In this way, they are similar to mutual funds, though ETFs are structured to give them some tactical advantages over mutual funds.

To understand the benefits of the ETF, it helps to first know what an ETF is and how ETFs work. With some ETF basics down, you can decide whether it’s the right choice for your investment portfolio.

What is an ETF?

An ETF is an investment fund that pools together different assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or currencies, and then divides its ownership up into shares.

This means that with just a few clicks, it is possible to buy one fund that provides exposure to hundreds or thousands of investment securities. ETFs are often heralded for helping investors gain diversified exposure to the market for a relatively low cost.

This is important to understand—the ETF is simply the suitcase that packs investments together. When you invest in an ETF, you are exposed to the underlying investment. For example, if you are invested in a stock ETF, you are invested in stocks. If you are invested in a bond ETF, you are invested in bonds.

ETFs were created to try and improve upon the mutual fund. Unlike a mutual fund, which only trades once a day, an ETF is structured so that it trades like a stock, on an exchange (such as the New York Stock Exchange), during normal market hours.

While the market is open, it is possible to buy or sell an ETF nearly instantaneously—and see an ETF’s value in real-time. A mutual fund only provides its value at the end of the trading day.

Most ETFs track a particular index that measures some segment of the market. For example, there are multiple ETFs that track the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 index is a measure of the stock performance of 500 leading companies in the United States.

Therefore, if you were to purchase one share of an S&P 500 index fund, you would be invested in all 500 companies in that index, in their proportional weights.

This means that most ETFs are passive, which means to track an index. Again, their aim is to provide an investor exposure to some particular segment of the market in an attempt to return the average for that market. If there’s a type of investment that you want broad, diversified exposure to, there’s probably an ETF for it.

Though less popular, there are also actively-managed ETFs, where there’s a person or group that is making decisions about what securities to buy and sell within the fund. Generally, these will charge a higher fee than index ETFs, which are simply designed to track an index or segment of the market.

How Do ETFs Work?

To answer the question, “How do ETFs work?” it helps to start by thinking about how a mutual fund works, because mutual funds are slightly more intuitive.

Investors in mutual funds buy their shares from, and sell their shares to, the mutual funds themselves. Mutual funds price their shares each business day, usually after the trading day is closed.

To calculate the value of one share, the fund first calculates its total assets (minus its liabilities) to obtain the Net Asset Value (NAV) of its holdings. Then, the NAV is divided by the total number of shareholders.

Because ETFs trade on a continual basis, this pricing methodology wouldn’t be fast enough. ETF sponsors need to create and redeem shares throughout the day. Therefore, ETFs require market arbitrage to keep their prices accurate. How exactly does that work? Let’s take a look.

First, remember that an ETF trades like a stock. For this to happen, ETF sponsors generally have a relationships with one or more “authorized participants”—typically large broker-dealers. Generally, ETFs only work with authorized participants to purchase and redeem shares.

They are able to make fast exchanges with ETF sponsors when they need either large blocks of the underlying securities, called “creation blocks,” or when they are attempting to trade out the ETF fund shares themselves.

But this is only part of the story. ETF prices are constantly fluctuating with the buying and selling of that ETF. That’s the power of supply and demand at work.

Meanwhile, the same thing is happening with the underlying stocks held within the fund. Because of this, the price (also known as the market value) of the ETF can deviate from the price of its underlying assets (the Net Asset Value, or NAV).

This creates an opportunity for arbitrage, where a trader could potentially take advantage of the discrepancy between the NAV and the market value.

When these traders act in a way to take advantage of the discrepancy, it helps to close the gap, and push the two values closer. By publishing the NAV and allowing traders to act on the information, the market price of an ETF often stays near that of the NAV.

Benefits of Using ETFs

ETFs are gaining popularity as a tool for short and long-term investors alike—they make it easy to get started. Some investors may opt to take the DIY approach, and others will prefer to have someone help manage their ETF strategy. Either way, ETFs offer some benefits to the investors that choose to use them.

Tax Benefits

ETFs are often considered more tax efficient than a mutual fund. When shares of a mutual fund are redeemed, it is possible that capital gains taxes are passed through to investors.

Because ETFs generally “redeem” shares through an in-kind trade with an active participant, minimal capital gains taxes are triggered. ETFs typically pass through less capital gains costs than comparable mutual funds.

Talk to a tax professional to learn more about the potential tax benefits of an ETF.

Low-Cost

ETFs and mutual funds charge what is called an “expense ratio,” which is an annual fee charged for upkeep in the fund. While both index mutual funds and ETFs are considered cost-effective ways to invest in the market, ETFs usually eke out some costs savings over index mutual funds.

Expense ratios aren’t the only fees charged by both ETFs and mutual funds, though. Because an ETF trades like a stock, there is often a transaction/trading fee to buy in and out of the fund.

Some mutual funds may have front-end load fees or back-end load fees that work in a similar manner, though you’d generally only see these fees on actively-managed mutual funds. Either way, make sure that you are looking at all of the fees involved in buying or selling any investment, not just the expense ratio.

Easy Diversification

Ever heard of the investing adage, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket?” That’s the idea behind diversifying your investments. Owning just one bond or one stock, or even a handful of bonds or stocks, can be considered risky.

By owning hundreds of investments all within one single investment, you minimize the risk of any one investment (such as a stock) doing poorly and tanking your portfolio along with it.

For example, if you were to buy an S&P 500 index ETF, you’re not just investing in one fund, but you’re investing in the 500 leading companies in the United States, achieving near-instant diversification. And by using an ETF, you get access to this diversification at a fairly low cost.

Investing in ETFs

There is no one way to use ETFs to invest. Some investors may be interested in the short-term moves of the market and use ETFs to place bets for or against those moves. Other investors may use ETFs to achieve broad, cheap exposure to the market in a long-term, buy-and-hold strategy.

For those interested in the latter, long-term strategy—which is likely most people—it is possible to buy a portfolio of ETFs through your brokerage firm of choice. This strategy will require you to choose investments that match up with your long-term goals and risk tolerance.

Investors who are interested in utilizing an ETF strategy but aren’t interested in the DIY approach may prefer to have the help of a professional.

Not only can the right professional help guide you into the right portfolio strategy for you, but they are there to help you manage your ETF strategy over the long-term. A professional can help you rebalance your portfolio and manage your investments from a tax standpoint.

If you want to invest in low-cost, diversified ETFs and have the support of investment professionals, check out SoFi Invest®.

SoFi utilizes the modern technology of ETF investing while providing a real live human advisor to answer questions, at no extra cost. For many investors, it will truly be the best of both worlds.

---

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice.

Investment Risk: Diversification can help reduce some investment risk. It cannot guarantee profit, or fully protect in a down market.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
Advisory services are offered through SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Information about SoFi Wealth’s advisory operations, services, and fees is set forth in SoFi Wealth’s current Form ADV Part 2 (Brochure), a copy of which is available upon request and at adviserinfo.sec.gov .

SOIN19045

Read more

When you think of trends, you might think of that time when everyone thought trucker hats were really cool, or how right now it seems like you can’t throw a rock without hitting a poke bowl spot.

And while a trend can be a current style or preference, the word can also mean a line of development or a more general shift in direction.

When it comes to trend-trading strategies to buy and sell stocks, these latter meanings are what traders are concerned with.

Here’s a look at what trend trading is and some common strategies with which it is associated.

What Is Trend Trading?

Trend trading, also called trend following, is essentially an offshoot of technical analysis—a set of strategies used by traders to examine stock prices over time, identifying patterns to help them know when it is potentially a good time to buy or sell.

To use the aforementioned trucker hat as an analogy for a moment: You basically want to start wearing those hats before they are cool and ditch them before the trend has played out.

Trend traders are often trying to make a similar move, buying stocks when they’re cheap, before there’s too much demand, then selling before the stocks are expensive and the trend is about to end.

Trend-trading strategies attempt to identify whether stock prices are moving up or down, and how fast—then using that information to decide when to buy and sell stock positions.

When prices move in one of these directions it can represent a trend. Generally there is an assumption that prices will continue to move in one direction unless acted upon by an event or outside influence.

Think of it a bit like the laws of inertia in physics. In physical science, an object in motion or at rest will stay in motion or at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. The same applies in trend trading, and when an outside force causes a change in a stock, this moment is called a pivot.

Traders will use a number of strategies to try to take advantage of trends and pivots. For example, if a trader believes that a stock price is on a downward trend, they might take a short position, selling stock and potentially rebuying later at a lower price.

On the other hand, if a trader believes that a stock is on an upward trend, they might take a long position. In other words, they would buy stock under the assumption that it will increase in value over the long haul and that they’ll be able to sell it at a higher price.

A Closer Look at the Types of Trends

While rising and falling trends are perhaps the most obvious and spottable types of trends, there is also a third, or neutral trend. If you were to look at a chart of stock prices, a neutral trend would basically be a flat, or horizontal, line.

You might also notice that asset prices during rising and falling trends tend to move in waves. For example, a stock price during a rising trend might rise a little, then make a brief dip before rising again, and so on. The inverse would be true for falling trends.

The end of a rising wave is known as a local, or swing, high. The end of a falling wave is a local, or swing, low. Traders will often zero in on these moments, using them to their advantage, helping them make buy or sell decisions, or using them as key data points for other types of analysis.

Trends can extend over short or long periods of time. Traders may look at months- or days-long trends, or they may zoom in and look for opportunities in hour-by-hour trends.

Rising Trends

You might hear rising trends described as “bullish” for the way they are moving forward. Generally, during these periods, there is relatively low volatility and low trading volume. These periods are characterized by short pullbacks on stock price, which are also known as countertrends. In general, however, the rising trend is a series of higher swing lows and higher swing highs.

Because of their low volatility, rising trends may be relatively easy for the average investor to trade in. That said, the countertrends tend to be short and shallow, which can mean it’s not always easy to know when to jump on board.

Falling Trends

Falling, or “bearish” trends are characterized by a series of lower swing lows and lower swing highs. In other words the wave pattern starts to reverse itself. The falling trend markedly differs from a rising trend because there is more volatility, and highs and lows are quick to follow each other.

Falling trends can be tricky for the average investor to negotiate due to their inherent volatility. Price movements and countertrends can be big, which can make them exciting to investors, but can also make it difficult to profit off the trend.

Neutral Trends

Neutral trends tend to represent a break between rising or falling trends during which stock price moves up and down in small increments during an extended period of time. This occurs as the price bounces back and forth between what is known as levels of support and resistance.

Think of it a bit like ping-ponging between the floor and ceiling of supply and demand. At this point the price is moving “sideways,” and if you plot the trend lines they will look horizontal and flat.

Trend-Trading Strategies and Indicators

Here are a few of the most common trend-trading factors, strategies, and indicators that help traders take advantage of trends:

Stop-Loss Order

A stop-loss order is a tool investors use to help manage the risk that prices will fall. They work when you place a stop-loss order with a stockbroker, who will then automatically sell a stock when its price falls to a certain predetermined level.

For example, say you bought a stock during an uptrend at a swing low. You might then set a stop-loss order at that price—your purchase price—in case the stock price begins to fall. (A stop-loss order may execute at a price lower than the purchase price, even if it is set at the purchase price, so it is not a guarantee against losses.)

For longer-term trend trading, investors may set the stop-loss order further away from the purchase price to allow for some of the natural ups and downs that can occur during an uptrend.

Stop-loss orders help investors lower their risk by hedging against decreases in the prices of their holdings.

Reading Trend Lines

Traders use trend lines plotted against a stock price chart as a sort of map to help them know when to make trades. Trend lines either connect swing lows or swing highs. The lines connecting swing lows represent uptrends, and the lines connecting swing highs represent downtrends.

As we’ve already mentioned, there can also be neutral trend lines that move sideways.

A typical chart might have multiple trend lines plotted against it, which can help traders identify opportunities to buy and sell. For example, there might be a long ascending trend line representing an upward trend in stock price.

A trader may look for short downward trends over the same period, and the points at which those short trend lines meet the long upward line could represent opportunities to buy.

The opposite may also be true—during a long downward trend, short upward trends may provide an opportunity to sell the stock position.

Trend lines are dynamic and frequently need adjusting. That’s because stock prices don’t move in a predictable fashion.

It’s important for investors to keep in mind that stock prices may move up and down away from the trend line and that doesn’t necessarily mean that the trend has ended.

Sometimes, traders may draw a trend line that represents a line of “best fit,” which can keep them from having to adjust too frequently when new data points fall outside previous trend lines.

Because trend lines can be imprecise, it may make sense for investors to think of them more as a guide than as a hard and fast indicator of when to buy and sell.

Momentum Indicators

One of the most important factors traders often try to identify within a trend is how strong the trend is, which helps them answer the question: is it likely to continue? This factor is known as momentum.

Momentum indicators compare a recent closing price with a closing price from the past. The time span between the two closing prices can be any length, and the momentum indicator can be calculated using one of two methods.

The first way to calculate momentum is simply by taking the difference between the current closing price and the closing price from a previous period. When the resulting number is positive the current closing price is higher than the previous price, and when it’s negative the current closing price is lower.

How far the difference is above or below zero is the indicator of how fast the price is moving. So a difference of 0.75 represents greater upward momentum than a difference of 0.45.

The second way to calculate momentum gives you a rate of change. You divide current closing price by past closing price and multiply by 100. When the resulting percentage is above 100, currently closing price is higher than past closing price, and when it’s below 100, the current closing price is lower. How far above or below 100 is the indicator of momentum. A rate of 90%, for example, is falling faster than a rate of 95%.

Increasing or decreasing momentum can provide buy or sell signals to investors. When looking at a momentum chart, these signals may occur when the momentum line crosses above or below the zero line. Momentum can also be used to help validate trades based on other price movements.

Moving Averages

When you look at a stock price chart it can be a bit messy, and the jagged lines can be hard to read. A moving average provides a way to organize that data more smoothly by taking the average of past closing prices over a given period of time. This much simpler line can help investors spot trends more easily.

When a stock price is above its moving average, it can indicate upward trends. When it’s below the moving average, it can indicate downward movements.

Investors may encounter two different types of moving averages: simple moving averages (SMAs) and exponential moving averages (EMAs). SMAs are the basic average of closing prices, whereas EMAs give more weight to more recent closing prices and adapt more quickly to recent price changes.

Neither method is necessarily better than the other, though depending on the other strategies you’re using, one may work better.

When You’re Ready to Buy or Sell

Which strategy you use when buying stocks or other securities ultimately depends on your own situation. If you’re a hands-on investor, trend trading is a strategy that might help you identify individual stocks. Other investors may be interested in a more hands-off approach, buying mutual funds or index funds that already hold large baskets of stocks.

Once trend traders have identified a stock to buy or sell and the moment to do so, they can execute a trade inside a brokerage account by placing an order with a stockbroker. This is also the time when investors would place a stop-loss order on a stock if they wish to use one.

Trend trading is markedly different from the long-term investment strategies that many investors use. For example, some investors use a goals-based investing strategy in which an investor is saving for long-term goals, such as retirement; others might use a buy-and-hold strategy.

These strategies hold investments for long periods, theoretically allowing them to grow and ride out any short-term market volatility.

When trend traders add any individual stock to a portfolio, they should be sure that it aligns with their long-term goals, their asset allocation, and diversification plans.

Whether you’re looking to be a hands-on or hands-off investor, SoFi Invest® has a platform for you. Active investing lets you buy and sell your own stocks — with zero SoFi transaction fees (subject to change).

If you don’t have time for making charts and tracking trend lines, automated investing may be the right fit for you. (SoFi does not offer stop-loss orders, but investors can place limit orders. There is a difference between these order types and investors should do additional research before placing a limit order on the SoFi platform.)

If you think you’re ready to invest and want to learn more, visit SoFi Invest®.

---

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
Investment Risk: Diversification can help reduce some investment risk. It cannot guarantee profit, or fully protect in a down market.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.


SOIN19179

Read more

When it comes to investing, there’s an old adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” (Who carries their eggs in a basket anymore?) This is generally referred to as portfolio diversification.

The idea does make sense. Buying only one or two similar stocks might feel risky (and may be risky), no matter how profitable the companies currently are.

But did you know that diversification goes beyond the stock portfolio? For many investors, diversification might mean investing in other asset classes that don’t perform like stocks.

In fact, instead of considering which stock to buy, it may be more important to decide if it’s appropriate to own stocks in the first place. And, if it is appropriate, an investor may also want to ask: what proportion of a portfolio should be stocks?

Another way to describe the mix of stocks, bonds, cash, and other asset types in a portfolio? Asset allocation, or quite literally, the amount of money that is allocated to each of the different asset classes.

So what is asset allocation? Although it sounds like investing jargon, asset allocation is one of the more important investing concepts to understand. And although there is not a universal consensus about the right allocation mix for each investor, this big-picture decision could drive a majority of returns over time.

What Does Asset Allocation Mean?

Asset allocation is the investment strategy of balancing risk and reward by divvying up a portfolio into different asset types.

Generally, asset allocation is determined by looking at goals, risk tolerance, the investing timeline for the investor’s money, and comparing that to what the different asset classes have done over history. That way, an investor can determine what mix of assets is a good fit for what an investor is trying to accomplish.

Each asset class will have its own path of performance over time. The goal of diversification is to invest in such a way that not all investments perform the same or even similarly during different periods over the course of an investment journey.

For example, some investors may find it helpful to make investments beyond stocks during a stock market crash, which could have a sweeping and dramatic impact on all stock prices. Historically, bonds have performed well during stock market crashes, and aren’t considered to be correlated to stock market prices.

Therefore, bonds can act as a portfolio hedge during those stock market downturns. Another way to think about diversification? Stocks zig while bonds zag—or at least they have historically.

Using Modern Portfolio Theory

For all the statistics buffs out there, it may help to think of asset allocation in terms of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) . MPT assumes that investors are risk averse, and builds portfolios with the lowest level of risk given the desired level of return.

It does this by analyzing the historical return of each asset class, the variability of that return (called the variance), and the degree to which the price level of different asset classes experiences volatility at the same time (the correlation).

Within portfolios, volatility and risk are often measured by their standard deviation (which happens to be the square root of the variance).

For example, if there were two portfolios and both have the same expected rate of return, but one has a lower standard deviation, the investor may want to choose that one.

Managing Risk by Asset Class

Whether the goal is to try to minimize risk, maximize potential returns, or some combination of the two, a good place for an investor to start is to study the risk and return characteristics of the various asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, cash or money market funds, real estate, private equity, investment partnerships, and natural resources, like gold. Much of the time, the discussion about risk and reward of the different asset classes is focused only on the tradeoff between stocks and bonds.

Common stocks, also known as equities, historically fall on the higher risk and higher reward end of the spectrum. Bonds are often considered to be lower in risk but also lower in reward.

Cash and cash equivalents (like money market funds) are typically considered to be the safest options, in the sense that cash experiences little price volatility. But be aware: The value of cash is eroded by inflation over time, which means potentially losing purchasing power.

Not all stocks or bonds are the same. Categories within each of the asset classes may carry different risk and reward characteristics. For example, small cap stocks are typically considered to be riskier but may come with higher returns than large cap stocks (also known as big cap stocks), which are generally more established. This is because small cap stops have the ability to grow into large cap stocks, whereas large cap stocks may not experience as much volatility—in either direction.

That said, the difference between the two is somewhat subjective, and small cap stocks can be established (in other words, they’re not just start-ups), while large cap stocks can crash as well (think Enron). Within the category of bonds, for example, junk bonds may be riskier while U.S. Treasury bonds are considered a safer option.

Determining Asset Allocation

After learning what to expect from the different asset classes, a good next step is to think about goals, risk tolerance, and investing time horizon—for each pool of money to be invested. For example, an investor may want to invest retirement money differently than emergency money.

A couple questions an investor might begin by asking: What is their goal with this money? When will they need to use this money? The latter is the idea behind investing time horizon.

To determine an appropriate asset allocation, an investor may want to conceptualize how long this money needs to last or what amount is needed for a set goal. Last, they might consider asking: How much risk (volatility) are they comfortable with?

Recommended: age-based rule of thumb is to start with 100, subtract age, and the resulting number is the percentage to invest in stocks. (Or, simply invest current age in bonds, and the rest is allocated to the stock market.) So, for example, if someone is 30 years old, then this rule would have them invest in a portfolio of 70% stocks and 30% bonds.

Because people are living longer and healthier lives that require a longer-term focus on growth, this asset allocation model may be too conservative for some. Instead of 100, it might be more appropriate to use 110 or 120 .

Pro: This method for determining asset allocation is straightforward and may work for people in a straightforward financial situation that is typical for a person of their age group.

Con: These rules will not work for everyone. Investors can use this strategy as a guide, but may want to consider amending it based on some personal reflection regarding their current financial situation, financial goals, investing time horizon, and tolerance for risk.

Non Age-Based Asset Allocation Models

There are four general investment allocation models that may be used as guides for determining one’s asset allocation.

Capital Preservation

This model is for the investor who wants to preserve their capital. Said another way, it is an investment strategy for those who do not want to risk losing any money. Capital preservation is generally utilized by those with short-term goals.

Capital preservation may work for someone saving to buy a car in a year, or about to start a business, or building an emergency fund. (Emergency funds might not need to be used within a year, but the whole point is that they are available for use immediately in the event of an emergency.)

To deploy a capital preservation strategy, an investor would likely keep their entire portfolio in cash or cash equivalents, like a money market fund. Both stocks and bonds can lose money in the short term, and therefore may not be appropriate for an investor whose primary concern is not losing anything at all. If they are going to invest, they might consider investing in Treasury bills or certificates of deposit.

Income-Producing

This investment model aims to do exactly what it sounds like: produce income for the investor. An investor targeting this allocation is likely to be living off of their investments in some capacity. This investor is choosing income over growth.

This strategy might be utilized by a person in retirement who needs their investment income to replace or serve as a supplement to their pension or retirement funds.

Such a portfolio will likely consist of investments that are known to produce income, but may be less likely to grow in value over time: bonds for large, profitable corporations and the U.S. government (often called treasury notes); Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs); and shares of dividend-paying stocks, such as those of blue-chip (large) companies.

Growth

This is an investment model for those looking to target long-term growth in their portfolio—i.e. investors who are willing to take on additional risk, hopefully in exchange for higher returns. This portfolio is not necessarily geared toward income-producing assets, potentially because the investor is working and earning a livable salary and not looking to use their investment portfolio to produce income, or at least not yet.

This strategy could be used by a person who is early in their career, targeting growth for retirement, and who has a high risk tolerance.

A growth-oriented portfolio is typically invested, primarily or completely, in common stocks, whether via individual stocks, mutual funds, or exchange-traded funds.

Balanced

A balanced asset allocation model is typically a blend of the income-producing and growth models. Such an allocation may make sense for a person nearing retirement or in the early stages of retirement.

A balanced strategy is also used by folks at all stages of their investment journeys because it can make sense from an emotional standpoint. The volatility of the stock market can be unnerving, and investors should take this risk seriously.

While the blend of investments will be different for each investor, a balanced portfolio is often invested in some combination of common stocks, medium-term, investment-grade bonds, and potentially REITs.

The idea behind a balanced portfolio is to strike a compromise between assets that grow over time and those that will experience smaller fluctuations while providing some income or growth in portfolios.

Pro: This method of determining asset allocation is closely tied to the actual goals and risk tolerance of a portfolio, which may be a more useful method than a generalized approach, such as an age-based method.

Con: This method does not directly address the fact that different pools of money may require a different allocation model and that these goals may change over time.

No matter which method of determining asset allocation chosen, it’s important to know that allocations can change over time. For many people, asset allocation may change when the goal for the money changes.

And it’s worth being careful when making changes based off of market behavior; an investor might put themselves at risk of making a detrimental change at the wrong time, like selling stocks at a low because they’re spooked.

Additionally, most asset allocations will require some amount of upkeep over time—this is called rebalancing. While research says it doesn’t matter if a person rebalances monthly, quarterly, or annually, checking too often can lead to loss.

That said, it’s probably a good idea to periodically check in and make sure that none of your asset classes has significantly outgrown its initial allocation size.

Getting Started

Once an investor’s determined asset allocation, the next step is to invest to fulfill those allocations. There are several options for this.

Some investors may find using funds to be the easiest and most efficient way to invest. A fund, whether a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF), is a basket of some other investment types.

With funds, it is possible to be instantly diversified not only across different asset categories, but within the categories themselves. For example, one broad U.S.-stock ETF could be invested across multiple industries, or at various companies within one industry, or both.

Some investors may prefer to buy individual securities, such as stocks themselves. This method requires more work as the responsibility to research companies and diversify rests fully on the investor. But this may give the investor more control over the implementation of the strategy, which some people may prefer.

No matter which investing technique you choose, SoFi Invest® can help put your money to work. And investors don’t have to invest a lot of money. With SoFi’s fractional share investing, investors can buy just a portion of a stock—starting at $5. And because there are no trading fees, 100% of your money is invested.

Perhaps most importantly, because you don’t have to invest much money in individual stocks, that leaves more room for asset allocation—helping you to find and follow through on the investment strategy that’s right for you.

Interested in fractional sharing? SoFi can help put your money to work—at a fraction of the cost of a share.

---

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Investment Risk: Diversification can help reduce some investment risk. It cannot guarantee profit, or fully protect in a down market.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.

SOIN19113

Read more