Like Andy, Mary didn’t do so well from January 2000 to March 2003. But Mary's diversification really paid off since her portfolio held up far better than Andy's portfolio:

Diversified Dale

In 1994, Dale realized that he would never have the time or interest to make the most of his investments, so he hired an experienced investment advisor. Like Andy and Mary, Dale had a total of $500,000 to invest. Dale's investment advisor designed a well-rounded portfolio, using stocks (both value and growth), bonds, cash, commodities, real estate, convertible bonds, foreign stocks (developed countries), foreign bonds and hedge funds.

Dale was surprised that his advisor recommended so many different assets, but she explained to Dale that a well-rounded asset allocation is the best    <<  >>