You should have around 10% in gold, 15% in bonds, 25% in international/emerging markets (ETFs/mutual funds/select companies), and the rest in US equities broken into large/small caps and value/growth.
Think long term. The historical average return of roughly 10% year over year for 50 years translates into a lot of gains if you're playing with real money. That historical average also takes into account the great depression/dot com bubble, and all the boom periods in between - losing 60% in a year? Nothing's new.
Think long term. The historical average return of roughly 10% year over year for 50 years translates into a lot of gains if you're playing with real money. That historical average also takes into account the great depression/dot com bubble, and all the boom periods in between - losing 60% in a year? Nothing's new.