4 Golden Rules of Investing (2024)

Whether you’re new to investing or a market veteran, these time-tested tips can help you build your fortune.

Rule Number 1: Diversify

Since some investments zig when others zag, divvy your money across several investment categories, from stocks to bonds to real estate. Also diversify within categories. Diversification spreads risk and guards against a catastrophic decline in any one investment.

Rule Number 2: Rebalance

Review your portfolio yearly to make sure your mix of investments hasn’t strayed from your original goals. If it has, sell investments that have performed well and use the proceeds to invest in underperformers to regain balance.

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Rule Number 3: Dollar-cost average

Fear can cause investors to miss buying opportunities when prices are low. Euphoria can cause them to buy high. By investing the same amount in the same investments on a regular basis, dollar-cost averaging takes emotion out of the equation.

Rule Number 4: Keep costs down

You can’t control how much your investments earn, but you can control how much you pay to invest in them. Save by using an online discount broker, and stick with low-fee index funds and actively managed no-load funds.

Read more about how to be a better investor in today's market.

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4 Golden Rules of Investing (2024)

FAQs

What are four 4 very good tips for investing? ›

4 Tips for New Investors
  • Align your risk with your goals. What are you investing for and how are you going to achieve it? ...
  • Diversify. ...
  • Rebalance. ...
  • Watch out for leverage.

What are the golden rules of investing? ›

The golden rules of investing
  • If you can't afford to invest yet, don't. It's true that starting to invest early can give your investments more time to grow over the long term. ...
  • Set your investment expectations. ...
  • Understand your investment. ...
  • Diversify. ...
  • Take a long-term view. ...
  • Keep on top of your investments.

What is Warren Buffett's golden rule? ›

Warren Buffett once said, “The first rule of an investment is don't lose [money]. And the second rule of an investment is don't forget the first rule. And that's all the rules there are.”

What is the #1 rule of investing? ›

1 – Never lose money. Let's kick it off with some timeless advice from legendary investor Warren Buffett, who said “Rule No. 1 is never lose money.

What is the 4% rule simple path to wealth? ›

The rule of 4% says that if you can live on 4% of your investments per year, you are financially independent. JL Collins advocates investing in index funds and recommends Vanguard index funds.

What is the rule of 4 in finance? ›

One frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending is known as the 4% rule. It's relatively simple: You add up all of your investments, and withdraw 4% of that total during your first year of retirement.

What are the four key principles of investment? ›

  • Goals. Create clear, appropriate investment goals. An investment goal is essentially any plan investors have for their money. ...
  • Balance. Keep a balanced and diversified mix of investments. ...
  • Cost. Minimize costs. ...
  • Discipline. Maintain perspective and long-term discipline.

What are Warren Buffett's 5 rules of investing? ›

A: Five rules drawn from Warren Buffett's wisdom for potentially building wealth include investing for the long term, staying informed, maintaining a competitive advantage, focusing on quality, and managing risk.

What are the 3 basic golden rules? ›

1) Debit what comes in - credit what goes out. 2) Credit the giver and Debit the Receiver. 3) Credit all income and debit all expenses.

What is the Warren Buffett 70/30 rule? ›

A 70/30 portfolio is an investment portfolio where 70% of investment capital is allocated to stocks and 30% to fixed-income securities, primarily bonds.

What did Warren Buffett tell his wife to invest in? ›

Buffett said he revises his will every three years, and he still advises his wife to allocate 10% of her inheritance to short-term government bonds and 90% to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.

What is the 1% rule of investing? ›

The 1% rule of real estate investing measures the price of an investment property against the gross income it can generate. For a potential investment to pass the 1% rule, its monthly rent must equal at least 1% of the purchase price.

What is Rule 1 investing? ›

It comes from a Warren Buffet idea that Phil Town expounds in Rule #1: Find a wonderful business, determine its value, buy its stock for half that value, and repeat until rich. These blinks enable you to do just that. They teach you the key indicators for that right, wonderful business that could change your life.

What are the 4 M's rule 1? ›

Know what it's worth as a business. Buy it at a discount to its value and that's Margin of Safety (M). So there's the four M's, meaning, moat, management, and margin of safety and you're going to repeat that until we get rich.

What is the rule of 5 in investing? ›

The 5% rule says as an investor, you should not invest more than 5% of your total portfolio in any one option alone. This simple technique will ensure you have a balanced portfolio.

What are 3 tips for investing in the stock market? ›

5 stock investment tips for beginners
  • Use your personal brand knowledge. ...
  • Know the fundamentals. ...
  • Use technical indicators to spot trends. ...
  • Do the math. ...
  • Commit to investment goals.

What is the 4 fund investment strategy? ›

The Four Fund Combo is built on four index funds (or exchange-traded funds) that include the most basic U.S. equity asset classes: large-cap blend stocks (the S&P 500 SPX, +0.27%, in other words), large-cap value stocks, small-cap blend stocks, and small-cap value stocks.

What are the major four 4 assets of an investors portfolio? ›

There are four main asset classes – cash, fixed income, equities, and property – and it's likely your portfolio covers all four areas even if you're not familiar with the term. Your pension, for instance, may hold a mix of these four types of assets.

What are the 5 steps of investing? ›

  • Step One: Put-and-Take Account. This is the first savings you should establish when you begin making money. ...
  • Step Two: Beginning to Invest. ...
  • Step Three: Systematic Investing. ...
  • Step Four: Strategic Investing. ...
  • Step Five: Speculative Investing.

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