Diversity

What's not to like about diversity. We need it in society, we need it in opinions and we certainly need it when making decisions about our finances. Don't ever put all your metaphorical eggs in one basket. Sure, you might get lucky like those guys and girls you read about who made a quick fortune by taking a huge risk by piling into one particular asset type. It could be a share, an investment or a Cryptocurrency.

For every dream story you read about however, it's important to bear in mind that there is likely hundreds who were not so lucky.

You see piling on like a gambler on a horse never pays off in the long run. This is why bookmakers have big houses in the suburbs and many gamblers end up broke and in some cases homeless and broken. Don't be the gambler making rash decisions, instead be the calculating investor who puts their money to work across multiple varying investment types.

A balanced portfolio within Crypto is important, without a doubt, but that's not even what I am referring to here. Yes, have diversity across your Crypto holdings, but in addition to this I would be of the opinion that having a spread to your investments is even more important. Here are some examples of how you could diversify depending on your financial situation.

Let me preface these suggestions with this statement though.

I am not a financial expert and as such this is not official financial advise, rather it is the opinions of a financial enthusiast who reads a lot and is interested in making money work for me

Cash savings

I know many here on hive and Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are often against Fiat currency. However, within the world we live in, Fiat is still king for now, so some of one's holdings should be kept in the bank. You might not agree, but that's simply my opinion.

Gold or Silver coins

Traditionally these assets appreciate over time. Sure there will be peaks and troughs, but if you are holding these rare metals for 15, 20, 25 years the probability is very strong that they will appreciate in value considerably. Something to note here is to make sure you own the physical metals and pay to have your dealer store them safely in a vault. That comes at a cost, but brings peace of mind.

Shares and Investments

Many people are scared by these assets, but today it's easier than ever with online brokers catering for small time investors with lower fees than traditional brokers. You have so many options, but a safe one can be to buy shares in a mutual trust that picks your investments for you of you could buy shares in the likes of Berkshire Hathaway who's business is shares and investments. This saves you the burden of picking winning shares which is by no means easy.

Some people do like that option though, as they love reading financial reports and trying to dechiper what's hot and what's not. Should you go for the latter strategy, remember to pick some dividend paying shares like IBM or Shell for example. Getting paid annual dividend regardless of share price is an excellent bonus for the savvy investor. Here is a listing of some of the highest paying shares from a dividend perspective:

• The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL)
  Dividend yield: 2.47%
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
  Dividend yield: 2.56%
• The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG)
  Dividend yield: 2.58%
• HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ)
  Dividend yield: 2.64%
• The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX)
  Dividend yield: 2.66%
• Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO)
  Dividend yield: 2.73%
• PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP)
  Dividend yield: 2.89%
• Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM)
  Dividend yield: 3.15%
• Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK)
  Dividend yield: 3.45%
• Verizon Comms Inc. (NYSE: VZ)
  Dividend yield: 4.39%
• IBM Communications Inc. (NYSE: IBM)
  Dividend yield: 4.5%
• Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM)
  Dividend yield: 5.41%

Again remember diversity and pick shares from different industries, maybe one Oil company, one tech giant, one healthcare stock, one Telecoms player. Better still pick ones that all pay dividends. Another thing to look for is future trends like green energy, electric cars, automation, robotics, nano technology to name a few.

Pension

Should you be lucky enough to have a job that offers a pension, sign up to that bad boy on day one. Do not put it off and think of it as something for older people. The sooner you start, the more comfortable you will be when you finally retire. Who knows, if you are savvy enough with your diversified investments, you may even be in a position to retire before you hit 65. You might be that guy who takes early retirement at 55 and plays golf 4 times a week. Sounds good doesn't it.

Your pension can be a big part of this, especially if your employer is matching some of your contributions. It should be a no brainer. Sign the forms and put that pension to work for you.

Other investments

Other potential investments include art, watches, fine wines, whiskeys, real estate and forestry. These are all more specialist areas and may not be for everyone, but even if you can include 4 or 5 of these in your portfolio, twenty years from now you will be better off.

I have not covered Cryptocurrency here, as if you are posting and reading on hive, i am making the assumption that you are already savvy in this area.

Set targets and be disciplined

Sometimes the hardest thing can be to sell our precious shares or investments. Be fully aware of your tax exposure and tax free allowance before liabilty for capital gains tax. Always try and use you allowance in a given year if possible.

One good strategy is having a realistic target at which point you sell half your shares or cash in entirely. You could decide that if your investment triples you take out half of it and if you reach the holy grail of 10x, you sell up and look for the next investment. That is very loose use of the word investment. Anything that goes 3 x or 10 x relatively quickly is more speculation than investment. I think it's important to make that clear.

That's it for now. Thanks a million for reading.

Peace Out