Bonds and foreign exchange investments are generally good for short- to mid-term investment plans. When it comes to investing in stocks or funds heavily loaded with stocks (i.e., large percentave of investment is in stocks), risk can be high in the short- to mid-term, and the members of ISG understand this well. Therefore, while taking the desires and goals of each client into careful consideration, ISG suggests the concept of "Dollar Cost Averaging" or long-term investments of 10 or more years for most traditional investment portfolios. The reason for this is that it is best to use the "Law of Averages" to your advantage when planning your investments.
When markets are depressed, prices drop. However, if the amount you save each month or year remains constant, you will buy more shares when prices are low. When share prices rise again, you have obviously obtained a larger number of shares than if the market had risen steadily.
Since there is no way to know when to BUY LOW and SELL HIGH, unless you're psychic, the idea of dollar cost averaging is applied. The Law of Averaging is also important to consider if you are investing in different currencies over a period of time (i.e., Currency Cost Averaging). The averaging is in you favor.
