Moreover, bonds, stocks and REITs rarely go down (or up) at the same time. A basic portfolio might consist of equal amounts of iShares iBoxx Investment Grade (corporate bonds), Vanguard REIT Index (real estate), and the SPDR S&P Dividend fund, which invests in companies with a high dividend yield and a long history of raising dividends. All these funds have expense ratios of less than 0.5 percent.

Conservative investors should include a money fund. Why? Because it will cushion losses - and yields have nowhere to go but up. (You could substitute bank CDs for money funds. The average five-year CD yields 2.15 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

Source: News-Press.com

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