Considering most of the market will only hold stock for under 4 months, one may find the idea of a long-term investment hard to justify. In general, shifting y

Considering most of the market will only hold stock for under 4 months, one may find the idea of a long-term investment hard to justify. In general, shifting your equity into index funds, and keeping 7% in high-risk markets is a good balance. If you are a family with young children, than that risk-exposure ratio should drop to under 2.5%. Depending where you live, additional community programs can offer substantially higher than normal returns with tax resistant programs like Education funds for your kids, Disability savings accounts, and First-time home-owner grants. As a side note, it has been my observation that few people ever see an actual return on in-house stock options in startup tech-companies. Additionally, a purge of senior-staff often happens before a firm transitions into the markets. It turns out, that more often than not these contractual incentives are just a tool to help drive down salaries, or even work for free with the truly audacious cons. Some have found utility in copying those who can break Market restrictions. ;) Congress member holdings report: http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-search.aspx http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-search.aspx Senate member holdings report: https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/ https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/