Investing is a bit like cooking. The same basic ingredients can be combined in different ways to create a meal. It’s the combination that’s important. Investors use this principle, too. In fact, some studies suggest that up to 91.5% of the ups and downs in your investment mix are a function of the way you spread your money across the three different investment types—stocks, bonds, and short-term investments.1
That means how you divide your money among stocks, bonds, and short-term investments could be more important than the specific funds you choose.
Of course, investing in this way won’t ensure a profit, and it can’t guarantee that you won’t lose money. But it could help you get ready for tomorrow while sleeping more soundly tonight.
So how do you decide which combination is right for you? It’s all about finding a mix that matches your time horizon, investment goals, and risk tolerance.
BRUSH UP ON THE BASICS
Stocks, bonds, and short-term investments each behave in different ways. Each reacts to changing market conditions differently, too. Because of these differences, each plays a unique role in your investment mix.
GET TO KNOW YOUR INVESTMENT MENU
Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or a delegator, the UC Retirement Savings Program (RSP) fund menu gives you options to build a diversified investment mix. You can combine funds as needed to create a mix that matches your needs. Learn more about investing and the UC fund menu by attending one of UC's financial education classes. View the schedule.
Prefer to leave it to the pros?
If you don’t have the time, interest, and skills to craft your own mix of investments, you may want to consider investing in one of the UC Pathway Funds.2 Each Pathway Fund is a professionally managed, diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and short-term investments—all in one fund.
Just pick the fund with the date closest to the year you expect to retire—that’s the fund’s target date. The fund will automatically adjust to grow more conservative as it approaches its target date and moves beyond.
The result: You only have one fund to monitor.
Want to make your own mix?
If you have the time, interest, and skills to craft your own mix of investments, you may want to create your mix from UC’s high-quality, lower fee core funds.
You’ll find a wide range of stock and bond funds, plus a short-term fund, all simply named so you can easily understand the differences. Remember, you can combine the asset classes in different ways based on when you plan to retire and how much risk you want to take.
If you want more flexibility and like researching, managing, and monitoring your investments, explore a self-directed brokerage account, too.
Next steps to consider
- Explore the investments available by reading the fund profiles on the Investment Performance and Research page on NetBenefits.
- Then allocate your savings according to the percentages you want on NetBenefits®. Keep in mind that as your timeline to retirement changes, so should your mix.
- Meet with a UC-dedicated workplace financial consultant if you have questions or want help building your investment mix. Call 1-800-558-9182 or book a consultation.