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Q: How Is Strike Price Calculated?

The writer determines where to set the strike price, based on the fair market value of the underlying asset being traded. So options contract writers may use the security’s closing price from the previous day as a baseline for determining the strike price while taking into account volatility and trading volume.

Q: What Happens When an Option Hits the Strike Price?

When an option hits the strike price it’s at the money and the option will expire worthless. If you’re the purchaser of an option that expires worthless, you would lose the money you paid for the premium to buy the contract. If you’re the writer of the option you would profit from the premium charged to the contract buyer.

Nov

2023

Strike Price, Explained: Definition and Examples

Strike Price: What It Means for Options Trading

By Rebecca Lake | Growing Wealth, invest, Investing | Comments Off

In options trading, a strike price represents the price at which an investor can buy or sell a derivative contract. An option strike price can also be referred to as an exercise price or a grant price, as it comes into play when an investor is exercising the option contract they’ve purchased.

Strike price can determine the value of an option, and how much or how little an investor stands to gain by exercising option contracts. Trading options can potentially generate higher rewards for investors, though it can entail taking more risk than individual stocks. Understanding strike price and how they’re set is key to developing a successful options trading strategy.

Key Points

• Strike price is the price at which an investor can buy or sell a derivative contract.

• The strike price determines the value of an option and the potential gain for the investor.

• Strike prices are set when options contracts are written and can vary for different contracts.

• There are different types of options, including calls and puts, which have different strike prices.

• Understanding strike price is crucial for developing a successful options trading strategy.

What Is a Strike Price?

An option is a contract that gives the owner or buyer of the option the right to buy or sell a particular security on or before a specific date, at a predetermined price. In options trading terminology, this price is called the strike price or the exercise price.

Strike prices are commonly used in derivatives trading, a derivative draws its value from an underlying investment. In the case of options contracts, this can be a stock, bond, commodity or other type of security or index.

Further, Options contracts can trade European-style or American-style. With European-style options, investors can only exercise them on their expiration date. American-style options can be exercised any time up until the expiration date. This in itself doesn’t affect strike price for options contracts.

There are two basic types of options: calls and puts. With either type of option, the strike price is set at the time the options contract is written. This strike price then determines the value of the option to the investor should they choose to move ahead with exercising the option and buying or selling the underlying asset.

💡 Quick Tip: Look for an online brokerage with low trading commissions as well as no account minimum. Higher fees can cut into investment returns over time.

Calls

A call option conveys the right to a purchaser to buy shares of an underlying stock or other security at a set strike price.

Puts

A put option conveys the right to to a purchaser to sell shares of an underlying stock or other security at a set strike price. This is one way that investors can short a stock.

Examples of Strike Price in Options Trading

Having an example to follow can make it easier to understand the concept of strike prices and how it affects the value of a security when trading option contracts. When trading options, traders must select the strike price and length of time they’ll have before exercising an option.

The following examples illustrate how strike price works when buying or selling call and put options, respectively.

Buying a Call

Call options give a purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a security at a specific price. At the same time, the seller of the call option must sell shares to the investor exercising the option at the strike price.

Let’s say you hold a call option to purchase 100 shares of XYZ stock at $50 per share. You believe the stock’s price will increase over time. This belief eventually pans out as the stock rises to $70 per share thanks to a promising quarterly earnings call. At this point, you could exercise your option to buy shares of the stock at the $50 strike price. The call option seller would have to sell those shares to you at that price.

The upside here is that you’re purchasing the stock at a discount, relative to its actual market price. You could then turn around and sell the shares you purchased for $50 each at the new higher price point of $70 each. This allows you to collect a $20 per share profit, less any trading fees owed to your brokerage and the premium you paid to purchase the call contract.

Buying a Put

Put options give purchasers the right, but not the obligation, to sell a security at a specific strike price. The seller of a put option has an obligation to buy shares from an investor who exercises the option.

So, assume that you hold a put option to sell 100 shares of XYZ stock at $50 per share. Your gut feeling is that the stock’s price is going to decline in the next few months. The stock’s price drops to $40 per share so you decide to exercise the option. This allows you to make a profit of $10 per share, since you’re selling the shares for more than their current market price.

Writing a Covered Call

A covered call is an options trading strategy that can be useful in bull and bear market environments. This strategy involves doing two things:

• Writing a call option for a security

• Owning an equivalent number of shares of that same security

Writing covered calls is a way to hedge your bets when trading options. You can possibly generate income by writing a call option from the premiums investors pay to purchase it. Premiums paid by a call option buyer are nonrefundable, so you get to keep these payments even if the investor decides not to exercise the option later. Covered calls can offer some downside protection if you’re waiting for the market price of the underlying asset to rise.

So, say own 100 shares of XYZ stock, currently trading at $25 per share. You write a call option for 100 shares of that same stock with a strike price of $30. You then collect the premium from the investor who buys the option.

One of two things can happen at this point: If the stock’s price remains below the $30 stock price then the option will expire worthless. You still keep the premium for writing it and you still own your shares of stock. On the other hand, if the stock’s price shoots up to $35. The investor exercises the option, meaning you have to sell them those 100 shares. You still collect the premium but you might have been better off holding onto the stock, then selling it as the price climbed.

Moneyness

Moneyness describes an option’s strike price relative to its market price. There are three ways to measure the moneyness of an option:

In the Money

Options are in the money when they have intrinsic value. A call option is in the money when the market price of the underlying security is above the strike price. A put option is in the money when the market price of the underlying security is below the strike price.

At the Money

An option is at the money when its market price and strike price are the same.

Out of the Money

An out-of-the-money option has no intrinsic value. A call option is out of the money if the market price of the underlying security is below the strike price. A put option is out of the money when the market price of the underlying security is above the strike price.

Understanding moneyness is important for deciding when to exercise options and when they may be at risk of expiring worthless.

How Is Strike Price Calculated?

The strike price of an option contract is set when the contract is written. Strike prices may be determined by the exchange they’re traded on (like the Chicago Board Options Exchange). Options contract writers may use the security’s closing price from the previous day as a baseline for determining the strike price while taking into account volatility and trading volume.

A writer can issue multiple option contracts for the same security with varying strike prices. For example, you might see five option contracts for the same stock with strike prices of $90, $92.50, $95, $97.50 and $100. This allows investors an opportunity to select varying strike prices when purchasing calls or put options for the same stock.

Note, however, that writing options in this fashion will likely result in those calls being uncovered, unless the writer owns enough shares to cover all of the options issued — that can mean incurring significant risk.

How Do You Choose a Strike Price?

When deciding which options contracts to buy, strike price is an important consideration. Stock volatility and the passage of time can affect an option’s moneyness and your potential profits or less from exercising the option.

As you compare strike prices for call or put options, consider:

• Your personal risk tolerance

• Where the underlying security is trading, relative to the option’s strike price

• How long you have to exercise the option

You can also consider using various options trading strategies to manage risk. That includes covered calls as well as long calls, long puts, short puts and married puts. Learning more about how to trade options can help you apply these strategies to maximize returns while curbing the potential for losses.

What Happens When an Option Hits the Strike Price?

When an option hits the strike price it’s at the money. This means it has no intrinsic value as the strike price and market price are the same. There’s no incentive for an investor to exercise an option that’s at the money as there’s nothing to be gained from either a call or put option. In this scenario, the option will expire worthless.

If you’re the purchaser of an option that expires worthless, you would lose the money you paid for the premium to buy the contract. If you’re the writer of the option you would profit from the premium charged to the contract buyer.

💡 Quick Tip: Options can be a cost-efficient way to place certain trades, because you typically purchase options contracts, not the underlying security. That said, options trading can be risky, and best done by those who are not entirely new to investing.

The Takeaway

Strike price is a critical concept for investors to know, especially if they’re trading or otherwise dealing with options as a part of their investing strategy. The strike price simply refers to the price that a purchaser can buy or sell an underlying security. Again, options can be fairly high-level, and may not be appropriate for all investors.

If you’re interested in options trading, getting started isn’t complicated. You simply need to choose an online brokerage that offers options trading. When comparing brokerages be sure to check the fees you’ll pay to trade options.

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Photo credit: iStock/Paul Bradbury

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Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire amount invested in a short period of time. Before an investor begins trading options they should familiarize themselves with the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options . Tax considerations with options transactions are unique, investors should consult with their tax advisor to understand the impact to their taxes.
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Nov

2023

When Can I Retire This Formula Will Help You Know_780x440

When Can I Retire Calculator

By Pam O’Brien | Budgeting & Goals, invest, Investing, Life & Career, Preparing for Retirement | No Comments

When it comes to figuring out when you can retire, there are a number of factors to consider: Social Security, inflation, and health care costs.

Thankfully, there’s retirement calculators for figuring out these costs, which might help you plan for the future. But first, to decide when you can retire, determine at what age you want to retire and then see how that decision affects your finances.

Key Points

• Factors to consider when deciding when to retire include Social Security benefits, inflation, and healthcare costs.

• The full retirement age for Social Security benefits varies based on birth year.

• Early retirement can result in reduced Social Security benefits, while delaying retirement can increase monthly benefits.

• Different retirement accounts have specific rules for withdrawals, such as Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs.

• Other sources of retirement income to consider include part-time work, pensions, inheritance, and rental income.

When Can You Get Full Social Security Benefits?

As you consider when to apply for Social Security, you’ll want to understand at what age the government allows people to retire with full Social Security benefits. Not only that, at what age can people start withdrawing from their retirement accounts without facing penalties? For Social Security, the rules are based on your birth year.

The Social Security Administration has a retirement age calculator . For example, people born between 1943 and 1954 could retire with full Social Security benefits at age 66.

Meanwhile, those born in 1955 could retire at age 66 and two months, and those born in 1956 could retire at age 66 and four months. Those born in or after 1960 can retire at age 67 to receive full benefits. This can help with your retirement planning.

Social Security Early Retirement

A recipient will be penalized if they retire before full retirement age. The earlier a person retires, the less they’ll receive in Social Security.

Let’s use Jane Doe as an example and say she was born in 1960, so full retirement age is 67. If she retires at age 66, she’ll receive 93.3% of Social Security benefits; age 65 will get Jane 86.7%. If she retires on her 62nd birthday — the earliest she can receive Social Security — she’ll only receive 70% of earnings.

Here’s a retirement planner table for those born in 1960, which shows how one’s benefits will be reduced with early retirement.

How Early Retirement Affects Your Social Security Benefits

Source: Social Security Administration

Social Security Late Retirement

If a person wants to keep working until after full retirement age, they could earn greater monthly benefits. This is helpful to know when choosing your retirement date.

For example, if the magic retirement number is 66 years but retirement is pushed back to 66 and one month, then Social Security benefits rise to 100.7% per month. So if your monthly benefit was supposed to be $1,000, but you wait until 66 years and one month, then your monthly allotment would increase to $1,007.

If retirement is pushed back to age 70, earnings go up to 132% of monthly benefits. But no need to calculate further: Social Security benefits stop increasing once a person reaches age 70. Here is a SSA table on delayed retirement .

💡 Quick Tip: You can’t just sit on the money you save in an IRA account forever. The government requires withdrawals each year, starting at age 73 (for those born in 1950 or later). These are called required minimum distributions or RMDs.

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Other Retirement Income to Consider

In retirement, you may have other income sources that can help you support your lifestyle and pay the bills. These might include:

Part-Time Work

Working after retirement by getting a part-time job, especially if it’s one you enjoy, could help cover your retirement expenses. And as long as you have reached your full retirement age (which is based on your year of birth, as noted above), your Social Security benefits will not be reduced, no matter what your earnings are.

However, if you retire early, you need to earn under an annual limit, which is $21,240 in 2023, to keep your full benefits. If you earn more than that, you’ll lose $1 in Social Security benefits for every $2 you earn over the limit.

Pension

A pension, also sometimes known as a defined benefits plan, from your employer is usually based on how long you worked at your company, how much you earned, and when you stopped working. You’ll need to be fully vested, which typically means working at the company for five years, to collect the entire pension. Check with the HR rep at your company to get the full details about your pension.

A pension generally gives you a set monthly sum for life or a lump sum payment when you retire.

Inheritance

If you inherit money from a relative, these funds could also help you pay for your retirement. And fortunately, receiving an inheritance won’t affect your Social Security benefits, because Social Security is based on money you earn.

Rental Income

Another potential money-earning idea: You could rent out a home you own, or rent out just the upper floors of the house you live in, for some extra income in retirement. Like an inheritance, rental income will not affect your social security benefits.

Major Expenses in Retirement

It’s important to draw up a budget for retirement to help determine how much money you might need. The amount may be higher than you realize. These are some of the major expenses retirees commonly face.

Healthcare

For most people, healthcare costs increase as they get older, as medical problems can become more serious or pervasive. According to Fidelity, the average amount that a couple who are both age 65 will spend on healthcare during their first year of retirement is $12,300.

Housing

Your mortgage, home insurance, and the costs of maintaining your house can be a significant monthly and yearly expense. In fact, Americans aged 65 and older spent $16,880 annually on housing during the years from 2016 to 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Travel

If you’re planning to take trips in retirement, or even just drive to visit family, transportation costs can quickly add up. From 2016 to 2020, people over age 65 averaged about $7,062 in transportation costs a year.

When Can You Withdraw From Retirement Accounts?

Now let’s look at retirement accounts. Each type of account has different rules about when money can be taken out.

If a Roth IRA account has existed for at least five years, withdrawals from the account are usually okay after age 59 ½ without consequences. Taking out money earlier or withdrawing money from a Roth IRA that’s been open for fewer than five years could result in paying penalties and/or taxes.

There is a little wiggle room. Retirement withdrawal rules do have exceptions for issues like disability or educational expenses, and there is an option to withdraw money early and pay taxes or penalties.

If a person is at least 59 ½ and has a Roth IRA that is less than five years old, taxes will need to be paid upon withdrawal but not penalties. Taxes or penalties might not need to be paid at age 59 ½ and if the Roth IRA has been open for five years or more.

People with a traditional IRA can make withdrawals from ages 59 ½ to 72 without being penalized. The government will charge a 10% penalty on withdrawals before age 59.5, and depending on location, a state penalty tax might also be charged.

People with 401(k)s can typically retire by age 55 and make withdrawals without receiving a penalty. People with either a traditional IRA or 401(k) must start making withdrawals by age 72 or face a hefty penalty.

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The Takeaway

Deciding at what age to retire is a personal choice. However, by planning ahead for some common expenses, and understanding the age at which you can get full Social Security benefits, you can use a retirement calculator formula to figure out how much money you’ll need each year to live on. And you can supplement your Social Security benefits with other forms of income and by making smart decisions about savings and investments.

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FAQ

How do I calculate my retirement age?

To calculate your full retirement age, which is the age you can receive your full retirement benefits, you can use the Social Security administration’s retirement age calculator . Essentially, if you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. For those born between 1954 and 1959, the full retirement age is between 66 and 67, depending exactly how old they are when they retire (such as age 66 and two months). And for those born between 1943 and 1954, full retirement age is 66.

The earlier you retire before your full retirement age, the less you’ll receive in benefits. Conversely, the longer you keep working, up to age 70, the more you can receive.

Can you legally retire before 55?

Yes, you can legally retire before age 55. However, your Social Security benefits typically won’t kick in until age 62. And even then, because you’ll be tapping into those benefits before your full retirement age of 66 or 67, you’ll get a reduced amount, or just 70%, of your benefits.

There is something called the rule of 55 that allows you to withdraw funds from a 401(k) or 403(b) at age 55 without paying a penalty. That may be something to look into if you’re planning to retire early.

Can you retire after 20 years of work?

In some lines of work, you can retire after 20 years on the job and likely get a pension. This includes those in the military, firefighters, police officers, and certain government employees.

That said, anyone in any industry can retire at any time. However, Social Security benefits don’t typically begin until age 62.

Nov

2023

How to Know When to Sell a Stock

By Inyoung Hwang | Growing Wealth, invest, Investing | Comments Off

Table of Contents

When Is a Good Time to Sell Stocks?
7 Reasons You Might Sell a Stock
4 Reasons You Might Not Want to Sell a Stock
Selling a Stock 101

Knowing the right time to sell a stock can be a complicated decision. There’s the desire to sell at a profit, or to sell in order to prevent a loss — and sometimes there’s a logic to selling at a loss for tax purposes.

There can also be times when selling a stock isn’t necessarily a good idea — like when the market is volatile, and an investor lets the market jitters interfere with their wider investing strategy. In any circumstance, it helps to know your rationale for when to sell a stock.

Key Points

• Knowing when to sell stocks requires considering factors such as a company’s fundamentals, opportunity cost, valuation, personal needs, and tax implications.

• Economic reports and earnings releases can affect stock prices, but there is no specific ideal time to sell.

• Different sell order types, such as market sell, limit sell, stop-loss sell, and stop-limit sell, offer investors varying levels of control and execution.

• Investors selling stock should consider how a sale aligns with their financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

• Financial advisors and online brokerage platforms provide options for selling stocks, but costs and individual preferences should be considered.

When Is a Good Time to Sell Stocks?

There are a few ways to approach the question of when to sell stocks. Perhaps the most relevant answer is “when you need to.” That will depend on the individual investor, of course. But some investors, looking to generate a profit from their stock holdings, may also want to plan to sell stocks on certain dates, or during certain times of the day.

For example, earnings reports are usually released quarterly, and are often associated with movements in share price. This is often called “earnings season.” While there’s no way to know for sure how an earnings release will affect a stock’s price, more often than not, share prices gain or lose value in the wake of an earnings report.

As for specific times of the day — if you’re a more experienced trader, you may consider selling your shares around the open (9:30 am EST) or close (4 pm EST) of the stock market. Stock prices are most volatile around these times, so you may be able to capitalize on a sudden jump in price.

The point is not that there is a specific time period that’s ideal, or not ideal, when it comes to selling stocks. It’s best to familiarize yourself with the cadence of different economic reports (the jobs report, consumer confidence survey, interest rate changes, etc.), and learn what the impact of those data releases can be.

Once you have a sense of the literal ‘when’ of selling stocks, it’s up to you to judge the right time to make a move based on your rationale for why you want to do so.

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7 Reasons You Might Sell a Stock

There are several reasons that could prompt you to think about selling your stock.

1. When You No Longer Believe in the Company

When you bought shares of a certain company, you presumably did so because you believed that the company was promising and you wanted to invest in its stock, and/or that the share price was reasonable. But if you start to believe that the underlying fundamentals of the business are in decline, it might be time to sell the stock and reinvest those funds in a company with a better outlook.

There are many reasons you may lose faith in a stock’s underlying fundamentals. For example, the company may have declining profit margins or decreasing revenue, increased competition, new leadership taking the company in a different direction, or legal problems.

Part of the task here is differentiating what might be a short-term blip in the stock price due to a bad quarter or even a bad year, and what feels like it could be the start of a more sustained change within the business.

2. Due to Opportunity Cost

Every decision you make comes at the cost of some other decision you can’t make. When you spend your money on one thing, the tradeoff is that you cannot spend that money on something else.

The same goes for investing — for each stock you buy, you are doing so at the cost of not buying some other asset.

No matter the performance of the stock you’re currently holding, it might be worth evaluating to see if there could be a more profitable way to deploy those same dollars. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide easy access to other asset classes — like bonds or commodities — as well as newer markets like crypto, have also created competition to simply holding plain-vanilla company stocks.

This is easier said than done, however, because we are often emotionally invested in the stocks that we’ve already purchased. It may be a good idea to try and be as objective as possible during the evaluation and re-evaluation processes.

3. Because the Valuation Is High

Often, stocks are evaluated in terms of their price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios. The market price per share is on the top of the equation, and on the bottom of the equation is the earnings per share. This ratio allows investors to make an apples-to-apples comparison of the relative earnings at different companies.

The higher the number, the higher the price as compared to the earnings of that company. A P/E ratio alone might not tell you whether a stock is going to do well or poorly in the future. But when paired with other data, such as historical ratios for that same stock, or the earnings multiples of their competitors or a benchmark market, like the S&P 500 Index, it may be an indicator that the stock is currently overpriced and that it may be time to sell the stock.

A P/E ratio could increase due to one of two reasons: Because the price has increased without a corresponding increase in the expected earnings for that company, or because the earnings expectations have been lowered without a corresponding decrease in the price of the stock. Either of these scenarios tells us that there could be trouble for the stock on the horizon, though nothing’s a sure bet.

4. For Personal Reasons

Though not an analytical reason to sell, it is possible that you may need to sell a stock for personal reasons, such as needing a cash infusion in preparation for the home-buying process or some other purchase. If this is the case, you may want to consider a number of factors in choosing which stock to sell.

You may make the decision based purely on which stocks you feel have the worst forward-looking prospect for growth while keeping those that you feel have a better outlook.

5. Because of Taxes

Employing a tax-efficient investing strategy shouldn’t outweigh making decisions based on investment principles. Still, some people may take the rules of taxation into account when making decisions about which stocks to keep and which stocks to sell.

When purchased outside of a retirement account, gains on the sale of an investment like stock are subject to capital gains tax.

It may be possible to offset some capital gains with capital losses, which are triggered by selling stocks at a loss. If you’re considering this strategy, you may want to consult a tax professional. One strategy that some people use is tax-loss harvesting, where you purposely sell some investments at a loss in order to offset the tax consequences of gains in your portfolio.

6. To Rebalance a Portfolio

If you’re looking to make some tweaks to your investment strategy for one reason or another, you may want to sell some stocks as a part of a strategy to rebalance your portfolio. Investors are often encouraged to rebalance their portfolios often — but not too often — as market and economic conditions can and do change.

This typically involves taking a look at your desired asset allocation, thinking about your risk tolerance (and how it may have changed), and deciding how you may want to change the different asset classes that comprise your portfolio, if at all. Selling stocks would be involved in most rebalancing efforts.

7. Because You Made a Mistake

Finally, you may want to sell stocks if you simply made a mistake. You may have purchased shares of the wrong company, or bought a stock that is simply too risky, and are doing your due diligence and risk management in regards to your portfolio. If that’s the case, you can sell your stocks and reinvest the money elsewhere.

4 Reasons You Might Not Want to Sell a Stock

In addition to weighing possible reasons for selling a stock, there are counter arguments for holding onto your shares: e.g. having a knee-jerk reaction to the recent performance of that stock. There is, of course, a lot to think about when considering risk and investing, but you’ll need to know before buying any stocks that the markets are going to move — a lot.

1. Because a Stock Went Up

As mentioned, stock prices will go up at some point, and you may want to hold onto your stock in the hope that it will continue to grow. But that isn’t necessarily a good reason to try to time the market.

Even the experts cannot always buy at the bottom and sell at the top. There are no crystal balls, as they say. So even if a stock’s price is rising, you may want to have a few other reasons for not selling the stock.

2. Because a Stock Went Down

Conversely, stock prices will, at some point, go down. Again, it may be tempting to try and cut your losses before you accrue even bigger losses — assuming you think that the stock’s value will continue to plummet. But, again, it may be helpful to think longer-term rather than what’s happening today. Prices will, likely, rebound, and you may only lock your losses in by selling.

3. Because of an Economic Forecast

Economic forecasts come and go, and they change — a lot, and often. This is especially the case in the short term. Therefore, price changes may have as much to do with investor sentiment or outside forces (such as political or economic events or announcements) as they do with the health of the underlying company.

4. Because of Short-Term Reasons

There can be a million potential reasons that could spur you to sell your stocks in the short term. But many financial professionals will probably tell you that focusing on the longer term is a better idea, and not selling — i.e. using a classic buy-and-hold strategy — could lead to bigger returns over time.

So, barring some other reason, short-term issues or market fluctuations may not be a good reason to sell.

When to Sell Depends on You

Ultimately, whether you sell your stocks or not will boil down to your goals as an investor. That includes factors such as your investment style — are you looking at day trading, or employing a buy-and-hold strategy, for instance? — how much risk you’re willing to assume, and your overall time scale.

Many investors who are simply investing for retirement may very rarely sell stocks. Others, who are looking to turn a profit on a weekly or monthly basis, may sell much more frequently. It all depends on the individual. It’s more a matter of looking at what you’re hoping to generate from your investments, and how fast you’re hoping to generate it.

Risk, style, and how much time you have to do it are all critical variables.

Selling a Stock 101

These are the basic steps required to cash out and sell stocks:

1. Whether by phone or via an online brokerage account platform, let your broker know which of your stock holdings you’d like to sell.

2. Specify which order type (more on that below). This can determine at what price level your stock is sold.

3. Fill out any other information your broker requires in order to initiate the sale. For instance, some accounts may have a “time in force” option, or when the order expires. Keep in mind, the trade date is different from the settlement date. It usually takes a couple of days for a trade to settle.

4. Click “Sell” or “Submit Order.”

Different Sell Order Types

There are several different stock order types that can be useful in different situations.

Market Sell Order

This order type involves selling a stock immediately. The order will be executed without the investor specifying any price level to sell at. It’s important for investors to know however that because share prices are constantly shifting, they might not get the exact price they see on their stock-data feed. There may also be a difference due to delayed versus real-time stock quotes to consider as well.

Generally speaking, the advantage of using a market order is that your trade is likely to be executed quickly. That’s especially true for bigger or more popular stocks, which tend to be more liquid. But again: the biggest potential drawback is that you might not get the exact price you thought you were due to market volatility.

Limit Sell Order

Limit orders involve selling a stock at a specific price. For example, if you’re buying stocks, you can specify a price that you’re willing to pay — the trade will then be executed at that price, or lower.

If you’re selling stocks, the inverse is true — your stock will be sold at the specified price, or higher.

The upside to using limit orders is that they give investors some semblance of control by allowing them to name their price. The investor can then walk away, and let their brokerage handle the execution for them.

The downsides, though, include the fact that the trade may never execute if the specified price isn’t reached, and that using limit orders may take some practice and experience to properly execute.

Stop-Loss Sell Order

A stop-loss order is a level at which an automatic sell order kicks in. In other words, an investor specifies a price at which the broker should start selling, should the stock hit that level. This can also be referred to as a “sell-stop order.” But note that there are other types of stop-loss orders, such as buy-stop orders, and trailing stop-loss orders.

Stop-loss orders can be useful in that they can prevent investors from losing more than they’re comfortable with, or that they can afford to lose. They, as the name implies, are a very useful tool to prevent losses. But depending on overall market conditions, they can also work against an investor. If there’s a short-term drop in share prices, for instance, it’s possible that an investor could miss out on gains if share prices rebound in the medium or long term.

Stop-Limit Sell Order

A stop-limit sell order is an order that’s executed if your stock’s price drops to a certain price, but only if the shares can be sold at or above the limit price specified. They are, in effect, a sort of bridge between stop and limit orders. These types of orders can help investors dodge the risk that a stop order executed at an unexpected price, giving them more control over the price at which a sell order will execute.

Different Ways to Sell Stocks

There are desktop platforms and mobile phone apps that offer brokerage services. These are likely the most common platforms individual or retail investors use to currently buy or sell stocks. However, another option is through a financial advisor.

Financial advisors are professionals who have been entrusted to handle certain financial responsibilities and you can send them a stock sale order to execute. They can do a number of other things for you, too, including proffer advice and help you formulate an investing strategy. But there are costs to using financial advisors, so it may not be worth it, depending on how involved in the markets you are.

The Takeaway

Knowing when to sell stocks is not an intuitive thing — there are a lot of times when it may be a good idea to sell your stocks, and others when it’s not. For example, if you’ve lost faith in a company, need a cash infusion, or are doing some portfolio rebalancing, then it may be a good time to sell stock.

On the other hand, if you’re unnerved that your stock’s price fell after a bad earnings report, you may want to hold on and let things play out. It’s difficult, and is a true test of your risk tolerance. But over time, it should become easier and more natural as you gain experience as an investor.

With SoFi Invest®’s Automated Investing, a robo-advisor service, you can get an investment portfolio of ETFs suggested for you using your goals, risk tolerance, and investing time horizon as a guide. An alternative is SoFi’s Active Investing platform, which allows you to actively buy, sell, and trade stocks, ETFs and fractional shares.

For a limited time, opening and funding an Active Invest account gives you the opportunity to get up to $1,000 in the stock of your choice.

FAQ

How can you tell when to sell a stock?

There’s no exact science, and determining whether it’s a good time to sell a stock will come down to the individual investor’s preference, risk tolerance, and time horizon. However, you can also keep an eye on a stock’s valuation, consider your opportunity costs, and weigh other factors in order to make a decision.

Should you ever sell stocks when they’re down?

You can sell stocks when they lose value for any number of reasons, but it’s likely best practice to make sure you’re doing so as a part of an overall investing strategy, e.g. tax-loss harvesting, and not simply because you’re making an emotional or irrational decision based on current market conditions.

How much profit do I need before I sell a stock?

There’s no exact science or answer to determine how much of a return you’d need to see before you sell a stock. That’s up to the specific investor, and there may be times when you actually generate a negative return when selling a stock.

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For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit SoFi.com/legal.
Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Bank, N.A.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): Investors should carefully consider the information contained in the prospectus, which contains the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other relevant information. You may obtain a prospectus from the Fund company’s website or by email customer service at [email protected]. Please read the prospectus carefully prior to investing. Shares of ETFs must be bought and sold at market price, which can vary significantly from the Fund’s net asset value (NAV). Investment returns are subject to market volatility and shares may be worth more or less their original value when redeemed. The diversification of an ETF will not protect against loss. An ETF may not achieve its stated investment objective. Rebalancing and other activities within the fund may be subject to tax consequences.

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.

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.

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Nov

2023

Rate of Return (RoR): Formula and Calculation Examples

By Kenny Zhu | Growing Wealth, invest, Investing | Comments Off

What Is Rate of Return?

Rate of return is a measure of an investment’s gain or loss, expressed as a percentage of its initial value, over a given period of time.

If calculated correctly, your rate of return will be expressed as a percentage of your initial investment. Positive rate of return calculations indicate a net gain on your investment, while negative results will indicate a loss.

Don’t confuse this with the expected rate of return, which forecasts your expected returns using probability and historical performance.

When using the rate of return formula, your chosen time period is referred to as your “holding period.” Regardless of whether your holding period lasts days, months, or even years. It’s important that you keep the time periods consistent when comparing investment performance.

Key Points

• Rate of return is a measure of an investment’s gain or loss expressed as a percentage of its initial value over a given period of time.

• The rate of return formula compares the difference between the current and initial value of an investment and expresses it as a percentage.

• The formula for calculating rate of return is R = [(Ve Vb) / Vb] x 100, where Ve is the end of period value and Vb is the beginning of period value.

• Rate of return calculations should be consistent in terms of the holding period to accurately compare investment performance.

• The rate of return calculation has limitations, such as ignoring the time value of money and timing of cash flows, which can be addressed by using alternate measures like IRR and annualized rate of return.

How to Calculate Rate of Return

You can calculate the rate of return on your investment by comparing the difference between its current value and its initial value, and then dividing the result by its initial value.

Multiplying the result of that rate of return formula by 100 will net you your rate of return as a percentage. You’ll know whether you made money on your investment depending on whether your result comes in as positive or negative.

We’ll do a detailed run through of how to calculate your rate of return, what you should include in the calculation, and what the resulting value means.

Rate of Return Formula

The standard rate of return formula can be represented as follows:

R = [ ( Ve – Vb ) / Vb ] x 100

Where,

R = Rate of return

Ve = End of period value

Vb = Beginning of period value

The aforementioned formula can be applied to any holding period to find your rate of return “R” over that timespan.

“Ve,” your end of period value, should represent the value of your investment, including any interest or dividends earned over your holding period.

Finally “Vb” should represent the value of your initial investment. It will be used as the relative basis on which your investment returns are calculated.

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Example of Calculating Rate of Return

To help you understand how to calculate the rate of return, we’ll walk you through an example. The formula is restated below to help you follow along.

R = [ ( Ve – Vb ) / Vb ] x 100

Let’s say an investor buys an investment for $125 a share which pays no dividends. This $125 investment will be your beginning of period value (“Vb”).

After one year, the value of the investment rises to $150 and the investor chooses to sell it. Given that $150 represents the value of the investment at the end of the holding period, $150 will be your end of period value (“Ve”).

To calculate the rate of return, enter the values for Vb and Ve into the rate of return formula. With the correct values in place, your equation should look like this:

R = [ ( $150 – $125 ) / $125 ] X 100

Solving out this formula using order of operations, your calculations should proceed as follows:

R = [ $25 / $125 ] X 100

R = 0.2 X 100

R = 20%

If done correctly, the formula should calculate a one year rate of return of 20%, based on the beginning and end of period values provided.

How to Calculate Rate of Return Using Excel

Calculating the rate of return in Excel simply requires you to enter the right inputs in a few cells; then tie those cells together using a few simple equations.

Excel is a powerful purpose-built application designed to crunch numbers and is a go-to-standard when making investment calculations.

While you can enter these inputs anywhere you want on the spreadsheet, we’ll walk you through an example to get you started. We’ve also restated the rate of return formula here to help you follow along.

R = [ ( Ve – Vb ) / Vb ] x 100

After opening a blank excel spreadsheet on your desktop, start by entering the beginning and of period investment values using the following inputs in the corresponding cells.

Cell B2: End of period value of investment (“Ve”)

Cell B3: Beginning of period value of investment (“Vb”)

It’s a good idea to enter a description of what each cell represents in the corresponding column “A” cells, to help you remember what each value means.

Now that we have all the necessary inputs for our formula, it’s time to tie them together. We’ve broken this step into several cells for ease of understanding.

Cell B4: Type in “=B2-B3”

This cell calculates the difference in value between your end of period (“Ve”) and beginning of period (“Vb”) investment.

Cell B5: Type in “=B4/B3”

This cell will divide the difference in value (Cell B5), by the beginning of period value (Cell B3), to obtain a decimal measure of your rate of return.

Cell B6: Type in “=B5*100”

Multiplying the decimal metric from cell B5 by 100 will calculate your resulting rate of return as a percentage.

If done correctly, cell B6 should show your rate of return.

Note: For more advanced Excel users, the same result can be obtained by entering: “=(B2-B3)/B3*100” within a single cell. You can try this in any blank cell to double check your work.

Considerations When Using Rate of Return

The main advantages of the rate of return calculation is that it’s simple and easy to calculate. It gives you a straightforward method to measure the profitability of an investment over any time period.

However, its simplicity does result in some shortcomings, particularly when it comes to more complex investments with numerous cash flows. We dive into these limitations below.

💡 Recommended: What Is a Good Rate of Return?

What are the Limitations of Simple Rate of Return?

The main limitations of the simple rate of return calculation are that it ignores the time value of money and timing of cash flows.

The time value of money is an important concept when it comes to finance, as it explains that money today is always worth more than the same sum of money paid in the future. This is due to the inherent earnings potential of cash held now.

In tandem with the concept above, the simple rate of return calculation also fails to account for the timing of cash flows.

Cash flows are particularly important when dealing with more complex portfolios or investments that might have multiple reinvestment periods over time or multiple dividend payouts.

The simple rate of return calculation, in some ways, oversimplifies the rate of return into a simple accounting measure over an arbitrary amount of time. To address these shortcomings, professionals typically use alternate measures like internal rate of rate (IRR) and annualized rate of return.

Annualized Rate of Return

The annualized rate of return is a slightly more complicated formula that solves the compatibility issues of the simple rate of return calculation by standardizing all calculations over an annual period.

Formula

The annualized rate of return formula can be exhibited as follows.

Ra = ( Ve / Vb ) 1 / n – 1 X 100

Where,

Ra = Annualized Rate of Return

Ve = End of period value

Vb = Beginning of period value

n = number of years in holding period

Annualized rate of return (Ra) standardizes your rate of return on an annual basis; this allows you to make fair comparisons with other annualized performance figures.

“Ve,” your end of period value, represents the value of your investment at the end of the holding period, including any interest or dividends earned.

“Vb” represents the value of your initial investment.

Other Types of Return Formulas

There are a multitude of other return metrics that can help you evaluate performance.

While the calculations for these metrics fall outside the scope of this reading, we touch on some of the most commonly used ones and why they’re used.

• Internal Rate of Return (IRR): This represents the expected annual compound growth rate of a specific investment and is usually used to help determine whether an investment is worthwhile.

• Return on Invested Capital (ROIC): Measures a firm’s profitability in relation to the total debt and equity invested by stakeholders.

• Return on Equity (ROE): Measures a firm’s net income in relation to the total value of its shareholder’s equity.

How Investors Can Use Rate of Return

Retail investors, institutional investors, and even corporate decision makers use the rate of return to gauge the performance of their investments over time.

It’s useful when compared against a benchmark index, return expectations, or other investment options to gauge how your investment performed on a relative basis.

When comparing investment returns, it’s important to make sure you’re making fair comparisons to ensure you’re making apples-to-apples comparisons.

For example, the S&P 500 might not serve as a fair benchmark for a portfolio invested 100% in international equities, as these are substantially different investment types.

Benchmark comparisons give meaning to your rate of return and help you evaluate whether you’re outperforming on a relative basis.

The Takeaway

Knowing how to calculate your rate of return gives you a useful tool for evaluating your investments’ performance. The best part about the rate of return calculation is that it can be done over almost any timespan, provided the returns you’re trying to compare have the same holding period.

It’s easy to calculate rate of return by hand, or by using an online spreadsheet. The same is true for annualized rate of return — which helps to standardize return rates over longer periods. Those are fairly simple ways to gauge investment returns, but there are a number of other metrics that help you assess and compare investment returns, so be sure to use the tool that aligns best with what you need to know.

If you want to start investing or are looking for ways to improve on your investments, SoFi’s online investing app is a great way for you to start building up your portfolio. SoFi’s award-winning app is secure, convenient, and easy to use.

SoFi invest gives you access to a wide array of stocks and ETFs. You can even gain access to IPO shares, and automated investing strategies, all at a competitive cost, all from the convenience of your phone or laptop.

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Photo credit: iStock/AleksandarNakic

Nov

2023

Investment Opportunities in 2023

By Samuel Becker | Growing Wealth, invest, Investing | Comments Off

Investment opportunities are different ways to put your money to work, and they can include any number of things, such as buying assets and waiting for them to appreciate, or investing in real estate or a business opportunity.

There are varying degrees of risks and potential rewards with each option, but if you’re looking to put your money to work this year, you may want to consider a range of ideas.

Every idea has to be vetted, of course, and it’s important to do your due diligence before investing. Only you can decide which opportunities make sense, given your goals and long term plans.

Key Points

• Investment opportunities include buying assets, investing in real estate, or investing in a business opportunity.

• Each opportunity comes with varying degrees of risk and potential rewards.

• Examples of investment opportunities include bonds, real estate or REITs, ETFs and passive investing, automated investing, and investing in startups.

• Buying precious metals like gold and silver are also potential investment opportunities.

• Investors should do their due diligence and consider their goals and long-term plans before investing.

What Is an Investment Opportunity?

An investment opportunity is exactly what it sounds like: It’s an opportunity, but not a guarantee, that you can put your money into a stock, a mutual fund, a new business, a type of cryptocurrency, that may offer the potential for growth.

While there are countless options for investors, investing typically involves using a brokerage account or investing platform to buy securities. There is a wide range of financial products on the market, and a good percentage of them can be purchased using a brokerage account.

Investments can be volatile, or at least subject to change. Virtually all investments rise and fall in value. Some are more reactive to economic issues or global politics. For that reason, it’s often useful for investors to evaluate the opportunities that may be trending in a certain year, bearing in mind all the relevant risks and investment costs.

7 Investment Opportunities to Potentially Build Wealth

7 Potential Ways to Invest and Build Wealth

1. Bonds and Bond Funds

One common conservative investment strategy is to seek a small-but-safe return from bonds.

Governments, municipalities, and companies issue bonds to investors who lend them money for a set period of time. In exchange, the issuer pays interest over the life of the loan, and returns the principal when the bond “matures.” Individuals can buy them on bond markets or on exchanges.

Upon maturity, the bond-holder gets their original investment (known as the principal) back in full. In other words, a bond is a loan, with the investor loaning another party money, in exchange for interest payments for a set period of time.

Different Types of Bonds

There are many different types of bonds. The most common, and generally considered to be the lowest-risk category of bonds might be the U.S. Treasury bonds, typically called treasuries.

The Treasury regularly auctions off both short-term and long-term Treasury bonds and notes. These bonds are, generally, thought to be one of the safest investments on the market, as they’re guaranteed by the U.S. government. The only way for investors to lose their entire investment would be for the U.S. government to become insolvent, which has never occurred.

Governments are not the only entities that issue bonds. Corporations can also raise money by offering corporate bonds. These types of bonds tend to be riskier, but they often pay a higher rate of interest (known as the yield).

A bond’s price is the inverse of its yield. This means that as the price of a bond falls, its yield goes up (and vice versa).

For new investors, one of the simpler ways to gain exposure to bonds might be through various exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are invested in bonds.

Other ETFs may include some bonds as part of a broader bundle of securities.

💡 Recommended: What Is Capital Appreciation?

2. Real Estate or REITs

Real estate is the largest asset class in the world, with a market cap well into the hundreds of trillions of dollars.

When thinking about investing in real estate, residential properties may be one of the first things that comes to mind, such as buying a single family home. But owning property, like a home, can come with an array of responsibilities, liabilities, and expenses. In that way, it’s different from owning a stock or bond.

Annual property taxes, maintenance and upkeep, and paying back mortgage interest can add to the cost of treating a home as an investment. It’s also worth remembering that residential properties can appreciate or depreciate in value, too.

Other real-estate investment options involve owning multi-family rental properties (like apartment buildings or duplexes), commercial properties like shopping malls, or office buildings. These tend to require large initial investments, but those who own them could reap significant returns from rental income. (Naturally, few investments guarantee returns and rental demands and pricing can change over time).

For people with smaller amounts of capital, investing in physical real estate might not be a realistic or desirable option. Fortunately for these investors, some investment opportunities can provide exposure to real estate without the hassle and liability of owning physical property. One common way to do this is through Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs.

Like other investments, there are pros and cons of REITs, but companies can be classified as REITs if they derive at least 75% of their income from the operation, maintenance, or mortgaging of real estate. Additionally, 75% of a REITs assets must also be held in the form of real property or loans directly tied to them.

There are many different types of REITs. Some examples of the types of properties that different REITs might specialize in include:

• Residential real estate

• Data centers

• Commercial real estate

• Health care

Shares of a REIT can be purchased and held in a brokerage account, just like a stock or ETF. To buy some, it’s often as simple as looking up a specific REIT’s ticker symbol.

REITs are popular among passive-income investors, as they tend to have high dividend yields because they are required by law to pass on 90% of their amount of their income to shareholders.

Historically, REITs have often provided better returns than fixed-income assets like bonds, although REITs do tend to be higher-risk investments.

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3. ETFs and Passive Investing

Passive investing, which refers to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and other instruments that track an index and do not have an active manager, have become increasingly popular over the years.

• Weighing the merits of passive vs. active investing is an ongoing debate, with strong advocates on both sides. In recent years, assets held in passive instruments have outpaced active funds.

Passive investing tends to be lower cost compared with active investing, and over time these strategies tend to do well.

• An ETF is a security that usually tracks a specific industry or index by investing in a number of stocks or other financial instruments.

ETFs are commonly referred to as one type of passive investing, because most ETFs track an index. Some ETFs are actively managed, but most are not.

These days, there are ETFs for just about everything — no matter your investing goal, interest area, or industry you wish you invest in. Small-cap stocks, large-cap stocks, international stocks, short-term bonds, long-term bonds, corporate bonds, and more.

Some potential advantages of ETFs include lower costs and built-in diversification. Rather than having to pick and choose different stocks, investors can choose shares of a single ETF to buy, gaining some level of ownership in the fund’s underlying assets.

Thus investing in ETFs could make the process of buying into different investments easier, while potentially increasing portfolio diversification (i.e., investing in distinct types of assets in order to manage risk).

4. Automated Investing

Another form of investing involves automated portfolios called robo advisors, as well as target-date mutual funds, which are often used in retirement planning.

An Intro to Robo Advisors

Typically, a robo advisor is an online investment service that provides you with a questionnaire so you can input your preferences: e.g. your financial goals, your personal risk tolerance, and time horizon. Using these parameters, as well as investing best practices, the robo advisor employs a sophisticated algorithm to recommend a portfolio that suits your goals.

These automated portfolios are pre-set, and they can tilt toward an aggressive allocation or a conservative one, or something in between. They’re typically comprised of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These online portfolios are designed to rebalance over time, using technology and artificial intelligence to do so.

You can use a robo investing as you would any account — for retirement, as a taxable investment account, or even for your emergency fund — and you typically invest using automatic deposits or contributions.

An Intro to Target-Date Funds

For investors who would rather “set it and forget it” than have to choose securities and manage investments over time, robo advisors could be one automated investment option. Target-date mutual funds, which are a type of mutual fund often used for retirement planning and college savings, also use technology to automate a certain asset allocation over time.

By starting out with a more aggressive allocation and slowly dialing back as years pass, the fund’s underlying portfolio may be able to deliver growth while minimizing risk. This ready-made type of fund can be appealing to those who have a big goal (like retirement or saving for college), and who don’t want the uncertainty or potential risk of managing their money on their own.

5. Gold and Silver

Investing in precious metals is another way to put your money to work.

Gold is one of the most valued commodities. For thousands of years, gold has been prized because it is scarce, difficult to obtain, has many practical uses, and does not rust, tarnish, or erode.

Silver has historically held a secondary role to gold, and today, serves more of an industrial role. For those looking to invest in physical precious metals, silver will be an affordable option.

Buying physical gold or bullion (which comes in coins and bars) isn’t the only way to invest in gold and silver. There are many related securities that allow investors to gain exposure to precious metals. There are ETFs that tend to track the prices of gold and silver, respectively. Other ETFs provide an easy vehicle for investing in gold and silver mining stocks. So, there are some different ways to invest in the field.

Companies that explore for and mine silver and gold tend to see their share prices increase in tandem with prices for the physical metals. But historically, mining stocks have outperformed simply holding metals by a factor of about 4-to-1 on average.

Gold, silver, and related securities are sometimes considered to be “safe havens,” meaning most investors perceive them as low risk. This asset class tends to perform well during times of crisis (and conversely tends to drop when the economy is going well), but past trends don’t guarantee that gold will perform one way or the other.

6. Investing in Startups

While gold is often considered to be one of the safer investments, startup investing is often considered to be one of the riskiest.

Whereas gold is a real asset almost certain to retain most or all of its value, startup investments are effectively bets on the potential of a new company, and that company might fail; in fact, there’s a good chance that it will. But it’s the high-risk, high-reward and potentially huge returns from startup investing that make it attractive to investors.

Imagine buying a little piece of a tech company when those companies were still in their infancy. When held throughout the years, an investment like that could grow enormously in value.

Angel investing and venture capital are two common ways that startups raise capital. They are both types of equity financing, whereby a business funds or expands its operations by offering investors a stake of ownership in the company. If the company does well, investors stand to profit. Because standard business loans tend to require some kind of assets as collateral (which newer companies, that might be information-based, likely do not have), raising funds in this way is sometimes the only solution startups have.

Venture capital is often associated with the tech industry, due to the large number of entrepreneurs in the industry who have turned to venture capital funds to start their businesses. This type of fund targets new companies and aims to help them grow to the next level.

Angel investing is similar to venture capital, but even riskier. An angel investor might be an individual who’s willing to help fund an otherwise struggling company.

Before running off to look for small companies to invest in, know that startup investing requires good business acumen, an eye for promising ideas, and high risk tolerance. In some cases, to, you may need to qualify as an “accredited investor” to invest in startups. Do a little homework, accordingly!

7. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that cryptocurrencies are volatile. But despite 2022’s “crypto winter,” the crypto markets can still be an attractive option for investors. And there are ways to build a well-balanced crypto portfolio.

Cryptocurrencies are widely considered a high-risk asset class. Some cryptocurrencies have periodically displayed extraordinary gains relative to the value of fiat currencies, in addition to phenomenal losses.

Despite these fluctuations, certain investors have begun to include many types of crypto in their asset portfolios.

Again, as with other higher-risk investments, there’s no way to predict which way the crypto markets may go. Investors may want to consider how crypto volatility can impact their choices.

Average Rate of Return for the Investment Opportunities

Each of the aforementioned investment opportunities comes with its own set of caveats. For instance, it’s pretty much impossible to guess what types of returns you’d see from investing in ETFs without knowing the specific ETFs you’re investing in. The same holds true for cryptocurrencies, and other assets.

But for some of the previously discussed asset classes, there are some historical returns for different asset classes over the past decade, as of August 2022.

• U.S. Stock Market: 13.8%

• Bonds: 1.6%

• Real Estate: 8.8%

• Gold: 0.8%

Importance of Finding Good Investing Opportunities

There is no requirement to invest one’s money. But leaving your cash…in cash…can also be risky. No one wants their wealth eroded by inflation.

Though the global economy hadn’t seen serious inflation on a wide scale for decades until 2022, today’s rising prices effectively mean that the value of every dollar you own is diminished as time goes on.

As such, finding investment opportunities that present chances for your money to grow faster than the rate of inflation, while weighing all the appropriate risks, is a powerful incentive.

After all, some investments rise while others fall, and things change. That’s why investors need to be on the lookout for new and different opportunities.

The Takeaway

The investment opportunities described above are just some potential points of entry for investors in 2023. Investors can look to the stock, bond, or crypto markets for new ways to put their money to work — or consider active strategies vs. passive (i.e. index) strategies. They can look at commodities, like precious metals, or automated portfolios.

All these investment opportunities come with their own set of potential risks and rewards. There are no guarantees that choosing X over Y will increase your investment returns. It’s up to each investor to weigh these options, especially in light of current economic trends, such as inflation and rising rates.

SoFi Invest® helps individuals begin investing with ease, thanks to the secure, streamlined SoFi platform. When you set up an online investing account, you can choose from stocks, ETFs, and more — and you can get started with just a few dollars.

For a limited time, opening and funding an Active Invest account gives you the opportunity to get up to $1,000 in the stock of your choice.

FAQ

What is the best investment opportunity right now?

The best investment opportunity at any given time will depend on the specific investor, and their individual goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Opportunities rise and fall over time, in reaction to economic and market trends, so investors should consider their personal preferences to determine what’s best for them.

What is the safest investment with the highest return?

Historically speaking, investing in a stock market index like the S&P 500 earns an average annual return of about 10% over time. But that’s just an average, and there are years when the market is down considerably. As such, it may not be “safe,” but over time, the market tends to bounce back.

Why are investment opportunities important?

Investing your money in the right ways can help it grow, and keep ahead of inflation. And because there are no guarantees for any one asset class or investment type, it helps to know where the opportunities lie so you can balance and/or diversify your own assets according to your own goals and time horizon.

SoFi Invest®
SoFi Invest refers to the two 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.
1) Automated Investing and advisory services are provided by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser (“SoFi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC.
2) Active Investing and brokerage services are provided by SoFi Securities LLC, Member FINRA(www.finra.org)/SIPC(www.sipc.org). Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation.
For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit SoFi.com/legal.
Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Bank, N.A.

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.

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.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): Investors should carefully consider the information contained in the prospectus, which contains the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other relevant information. You may obtain a prospectus from the Fund company’s website or by email customer service at [email protected]. Please read the prospectus carefully prior to investing. Shares of ETFs must be bought and sold at market price, which can vary significantly from the Fund’s net asset value (NAV). Investment returns are subject to market volatility and shares may be worth more or less their original value when redeemed. The diversification of an ETF will not protect against loss. An ETF may not achieve its stated investment objective. Rebalancing and other activities within the fund may be subject to tax consequences.

Claw Promotion: Customer must fund their Active Invest account with at least $10 within 30 days of opening the account. Probability of customer receiving $1,000 is 0.028%. See full terms and conditions.

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