Thursday, January 13, 2011

Careful Consideration of Risk Tolerance

There are many things to consider when determining the answer to a seemingly simple question, "What is my risk tolerance?" The answer will vary based on your age, experience, net worth, risk capital and the actual investment or trade being considered. Once you have thought this through, you will be able to apply this knowledge to a balanced and diversified program of investing and trading.

Spreading your risk around, even if it is all high risk, decreases your overall exposure to any single investment or trade. With appropriate diversification, the probability of total loss is greatly reduced. This comes back to preservation of capital.

Knowing your risk tolerance goes far beyond being able to sleep at night or stressing over your trades. It is a complex process of analyzing your personal financial situation and balancing it against your goals and objectives. Ultimately, knowing you risk tolerance - and keeping to investments that fit within it - should keep you from complete financial ruin.

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