Investing. It can be intimidating, especially if you’re unsure of where to put your hard earned money. With a little digging and some research, you’ll find that there are many investing guidelines or methods available to you, the investor, and they’re almost all screaming at you to “diversify, diversify, diversify!” but what does that mean? And how can you know exactly which method will work for you?

To answer these questions you must first ask yourself what exactly you seek out of your portfolio, what kind of monetary gain do you expect to establish and in what amount of time. While establishing some wealth over time through the stock exchange isn’t too risky or difficult to do it may take a very long time depending on where exactly you place your funds. There are three types of portfolio and they range from least to most risk. They are known as conservative, moderate, and aggressive investments. The latter may sound daunting but remember, with more risk comes more reward!

In this introductory post I’ll be discussing two methods of investing. 

“The Golden Butterfly Method”

Despite being a conservative/moderate mix of funds, this method has potential for extraordinary returns when compared to other charts at similar risk. It is broken down into five 20% investments out of a total set investment fund that include 20% total stock market, 20% small cap value, 20% long term bonds, 20% short term bonds, and 20% in gold. This method is specifically tailored to do well in all market conditions including a recession and can be very effective for an older investor who is looking for stability but also wants best possible returns.

“The Barbell or Black Swan Method” 

This method is both hyper-conservative and hyper-aggressive however, it leans closer towards an aggressive investing strategy if applied in the way that I prefer. With this method, the objective is to avoid unsafe and small payoff investments by putting a percentage of funds into either safe little/no payoff investments, such as a savings account or high risk investments like small start ups or the cannabis industry. The percentage of either side of the investing barbell can be tailored to your given needs. The most important thing you need to remember when using this investment method is to avoid the middle, aka “the bar”, which consists of unsafe, small payoff investments. This method is much more appealing, in my opinion, to a younger and more aggressive investor who is excited to see progress but is also concerned about their financial stability and future investments.

Like I said, these two are only a couple of many many methods available as a guideline to investing in the way that fits you and your personal financial goals, no matter what they might be. Good luck and keep researching!