This is my take on investing. Fact 1: Most professional investors do not beat the market. Fact 2: The market has returned on average 12% for large cap stocks,

This is my take on investing. Fact 1: Most professional investors do not beat the market. Fact 2: The market has returned on average 12% for large cap stocks, 18% for small cap stocks year-to-year (#s are not adjusted for last recession, but discount 4-5% if you want) Fact 3: You are not a professional investor. With those facts in mind, I have found that the best expected value for an investment return is simply to dump all the money into a mix-bag of ETFs that leverage the market (they pretend to borrow money so you gain double or lose double the market rate) DDM, QLD, MVV, etc. To balance that out (hedge) with the weakening US dollar and shift in world powers, I would probably also throw some money into an emerging markets ETF and/or China/India funds. But, as a caveat, I am personally invested in nothing b/c the startup life is the riskiest investment anyone can take (generalized), and my hedge against that is to keep the rest of my money safe in CDs and online savings accounts.