The term investment portfolio conjures up visions of the truly rich-the Rockefellers, the Wal Mart Waltons, Bill Gates. But today, everyone from the Philadelphia firefighter, his part time receptionist wife and their three children, to the single Los Angeles lawyer starting out on his own-needs a portfolio.
A portfolio is simply a collection of financial assets. It may include real estate, rare stamps and coins, precious metals and even artworks. But those are for people with expertise. What most of us need to know about are stocks, bonds and cash (including such cash equivalents as money market funds).
How do you decide what part of your portfolio should go to each of the big three? Begin by understanding that stocks pay higher returns but are more risky; bonds and cash pay lower returns but are less risky.
Research by Ibbotson Associates, for example, shows that large company stocks, on average, have returned 11.2 percent annually since 1926. Over the same period, by comparison, bonds have returned an annual average of 5.3 percent and cash, 3.8 percent.
But short term risk is another matter. In 1974, a one year $1000 investment in the stock market would have declined to $735.
With bonds, there are two kinds of risk: that the borrower won't pay you back and that the money you'll get won't be worth very much. The U.S. government stands behind treasury bonds, so the credit risk is almost nil. But the inflation risk remains. Say you buy a $1000 bond maturing in ten years. If inflation averages about seven percent over that time, then the $1000 you receive at maturity can only buy $500 worth of today's goods.
With cash, the inflation risk is lower, since over a long period you can keep rolling over your CDs every year (or more often). If inflation rises, interest rates rise to compensate.
As a result, the single most important rule in building a portfolio is this: If you don't need the money for a long time, then put it into stocks. If you need it soon, put it into bonds and cash.
1. This passage is intended to give advice on .
A) how to avoid inflation risks
B) what kinds of bonds to buy
C) how to get rich by investing in stock market
D) how to become richer by spreading the risk
2. The author mentions such millionaires as the Rockefellers and Bill Gates to show that .
A) they are examples for us on our road to wealth
B) a portfolio is essential to financial success
C) they are really rich people
D) they started out on their own
3. Which of the following statements will the author support?
A) Everybody can get rich with some financial assets.
B) The credit risk for treasury bonds is extremely high.
C) It's no use trying to know the advantages of stocks, bonds and cash.
D) Everybody should realize the importance of distribution of their financial assets.
4. The word "returns" in paragraph three can be best replaced by "."
A) returning journeys
B) profits
C) savings
D) investments
5. The author of the passage points out that .
A) keeping cash is the only way to avoid risks
B) the longer you own a stock, the more you lost
GCT考试保底230分之谈：我的考试观就是及格就好，并不追求高分。去年GCT也只考了252分，报的清华刚刚好。又考了一次，从中有了些心得来和大家交流一下。
去年我全面复习了，结果考的并不理想;今年考前根本没怎么复习，考试前晚上还在看数学的公式，但考试感觉比去年要好，成绩怎么样再说。大家很多都是在职的，全面复习的时间不会太多，我就谈谈我感觉的复习重点和考试方法。我按照我的答题顺序说。
英语：之所以把英语放在第一个答是因为我如果不先做完英语就始终不放心，属于个人习惯。前10道单词语法和10道完形填空一样的做法，都是一口气看下来，会的就答，不会的就直接选C。阅读理解就是先看问题在找答案的方法，省时有效，今年的阅读我一篇都没读完，包括我比较关心的NBA换球事件。完成对话则是要拿分的地方。英语复习向来花的时间多见效还慢，所以复习英语我只看对话的部分，这部分比较容易复习，收分也不少。我答英语用40分钟。我英语是弱项，去年52分，相信今年大家不回比我弱的。
分数：50
逻辑：逻辑答题没有太多要求，完全靠大家的感觉。复习教材建议大家不用怎么看，越看越晕，还可能起副作用。复习时就是做模拟题，把五套题做完了估计就找到规律了。要求的是最后10道大题一定要会画图表分析法，这20分只要耐心都能得到，不要考虑时间。逻辑是我想要的拿分科目，所以答题有些恋恋不舍，加上中间还出去方便一下，结果花了惊人的65分钟。我去年好运气都让逻辑占了，得了90分，今年不会那么多了，但只要大家做过模拟题，能安心答题，70分还是没问题的。
分数：70
语文：这一科真是上含天文地理，下含生化法律，没法都复习，所以莫不如只看看拼音成语，只复习前4分得题。剩下的阅读理解，生活常识部分，以大家的高中语文功底加上十几年的读书看报也不会被难住，拿下70分问题不会太大。我因为逻辑超时了，所以语文答的比较赶，用了40分钟。我去年模拟都是80 多分，结果考试只得了70分
分数：70
数学：数学考试是我最重要的部分，是我考试经验的重点，这一科我要放弃大部分题。数学我的理论是只做前10道题，后面15道直接就选C。这样你就会发现后面的高等数学和线性代数这部分最难的题你可以不做了，我两年答数学的时候都只剩30分钟了，但是这样下来时间也足够了，而且高等数学和线性代数这你复习时最头疼的两部分也可以不看了，简单吧。前10题里，你最差也能做对6道(如果再差我也没办法了)，6*4=24分，后15题中C答案占四分之一强也会对4道，4*4=16分，这样40分就到手了。相信所有的学校都不会把单科分定到变态的44分，包括清华，如果真有，那就求你多做对一道题了。(经验：我去年真是都复习了，包括高数和线性，但是时间不够只做了前12道，对了10道。后13道题我盲目的相信了自己眼力，按照自己看着像的答案答的，竟无一名中
分数：40分
这样算下来，总成绩最低50+70+70+40=230分。这也给你留出了足够的升分空间，如果你英语好，或者逻辑语文比较强，或者答数学时时间多一些，可以自己多做几道有把握的题，分数完全可以更高。
总结几个要点：
1.不会的题不要贪去琢磨而浪费时间，会的题不要因为怕浪费时间而放弃。
2.学会放弃，如果实力精力有限，就不要企图面面俱到，GCT考试中有些题就是塞翁失马的东西。理性的放弃一部分，对复习与考试可能都会利大于弊。
C) the high rate of profit and high rate of risk coexist in stocks
D) the best way to accumulate wealth is by investing in stocks
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