How to Invest $10,000

Asset allocation is the way you divide your money among groups of similar investments or "asset classes." The three main asset classes are stocks Tooltip Stocks (equities) represent ownership in a company. They can provide both price appreciation and dividend income. Stocks are considered relatively risky, because the stock price may also decrease and there's no guarantee you'll be paid dividends. Stocks also tend to be more volatile than bonds. , bonds Tooltip A bond represents a loan you make to a government, municipality or corporation (issuer). In return, that issuer promises to pay you a specified rate of interest and to repay the face value after a certain period of time, barring default. They can provide income and help balance the risks of stocks. As with any investment, bonds have risks such as default risk and reinvestment risk. and cash investments Tooltip Cash and cash investments include bank deposits (checking and savings accounts), money market funds and short-term investments (like CDs and short-term Treasury securities). These can provide flexibility and stability. Shorter-term investments tend to have lower returns than longer-term investments. . In general, if you're a conservative investor looking for income and stability, you may want to hold more bonds than stocks. But if you're a long-term investor looking for high-growth potential and less concerned about immediate income, you may want to invest more aggressively by holding more stocks. See our model portfolios for sample asset allocation plans.

Stocks and bonds can be broken down further into different types. For example, you can invest in stocks that represent large companies (large-cap), small companies (small-cap), international companies and everything in between.

You can break down your investments even further. For example, with large-cap stocks, you can invest in different sectors (like technology, health care and communications). Within each sector, you can also invest in different industries. For example, within the health care sector, you could consider pharmaceuticals, biotechnology or equipment industries.