The chart below shows the annual returns of various asset classes like stocks, bonds, cash, etc. from 2003 thru 1H, 2017: Click to enlarge   Source: Novel Investor

Diversification is the simple and easy way to avoid major disasters and achieve one’s long-term goal in equity investment. The following chart vividly makes this point clear.At the height of the global financial crisis, the S&P 500 fell 37% in 2008 but the consumer staples index declined by only 15%. Similarly no index has been …

Continue reading ‘S&P 500 Sector Returns by Year from 2007 Thru 1H, 2017’ »

In an earlier we looked at the emerging market returns. The following chart shows the returns for developed markets from 2003 thru 1H, 2017: Click to enlarge Note: The returns shown above are based on MSCI country index returns. Source: Novel Investor Related ETFs: iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (EWG) iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (EWC) iShares MSCI Australia …

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One of the ways of diversification is to allocate one’s portfolio assets across countries. Since the economic systems, political systems and wealth of natural resources vary between countries the equity markets also tend to perform differently. For exmaple, when crude oil prices are soarding the Russian equity market performs well as the economy is dependent …

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The retirement ages for men and women vary widely across countries. In this post let us take a look at the ages differences between countries. But before we get to that, here is a brief introduction on retirement. Germany was the first country in the world to implement an old age social insurance program back …

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