While it is ultimately up to you to decide how your portfolio's asset allocation will serve your investment goals, there are some things to keep in mind.

Your objectives, like your IRA, 401(k), or other portfolio asset allocation, include a number of factors, but the following are most likely among them:a) an examination of the preservation of your investment capital; b) the "real" return on your investments as a whole (the "real" return is the nominal return or actual return minus inflation over the investment period); c) the length of your investment (short term: less than one year; intermediate term: three to five years; long term: more than five years); d) liquidity (the speed at which you can cash out your investments); e) your tolerance for risk and uncertainty over the investment period;

A well-balanced portfolio typically has both positive and negative asset class correlations. Obviously, no asset class always increases annually; however, initiating, maintaining, and adjusting the allocation between asset classes is one of the keys to a balanced portfolio. For the duration and season of investment cycles, you move fund allocation between asset classes, with some increasing and others decreasing, depending on your outlook for the economic future. Under certain economic conditions, some asset classes tend to move in tandem (a positive correlation), while others tend to move in opposition to other asset classes (a negative correlation).

Since it is impossible to accurately predict the economic future, the idea of a balanced portfolio is to have some allocation in all asset classes and to balance or rebalance among the asset classes based on your own perspective.
Because of the negative correlation between the classes, this strategy does not produce a real return on every asset class. However, the goal is to provide a net real return on the entire portfolio and real returns that more than offset real losses in order to preserve capital.

The four asset classes that the majority of investors consider are cash, stocks, bonds, and alternatives—also known as tangible assets. Gold and precious metals, one of the largest assets in the fourth asset class, have historically had a negative correlation with cash, stocks, and bonds. Even though cash, stocks, and bonds have negative correlations, there are economies in which these three asset classes move together (or positively correlate). Without the fourth asset class, gold and precious metals, your portfolio will be out of balance in those economies, and you may experience net real losses on your entire portfolio, which could result in the loss of your investment capital. Because all of your allocated asset classes were correlated and did not provide a real return, it's possible that your portfolio lost capital during the 2008 U.S. economic crisis.

One of the most significant strategic choices you will make regarding your portfolio is how you divide assets among cash, stocks, bonds, and the fourth asset class of gold and precious metals.

The goal of this book is to help you comprehend the fourth asset class—gold and precious metals—so that you can allocate your investments appropriately.
One final thought regarding asset allocation: Mathematically, a portfolio with an asset allocation of less than 5% of total assets probably won't be significantly balanced. Take into account the potential outcomes of this economic scene: Even if the 1% allocation of non-correlated assets increases by 100%, the following outcomes occur if the economic conditions are such that the correlated assets do not provide a real return, such as declining in value by 20%, and the correlated assets make up 99% of the portfolio:

1) the original allocation of correlated assets made up 97% of the portfolio's value, or 79% after real losses;

2) an initial allocation of non-correlated assets equal to 3% of the portfolio's value after real returns;

(3) The total original value of the portfolio following this allocation, or 85 percent. For your own asset allocation, you can easily work through a variety of scenarios with cash, stocks, and bonds—which can be highly correlated—and the fourth asset class—gold and precious metals—which can be highly non-correlated—easily.

There is a lot of potential in the Toronto gold market. Additionally significant are the cities and towns that surround Toronto. Additionally, there is a significant gold market in Mississauga. Gold is purchased by a lot of people in this area.In point of fact, this region is home to numerous gold dealers. Try to buy gold bars from reputable bullion dealers if you want to buy them in Toronto. Before you buy anything, check the price of gold and silver because they fluctuate a lot. The most popular gold silver bullion products are the Gold Maple and Silver Maple coins.