Investing Basics: What Is A Portfolio?

Investing for the long term means you should own a portfolio of stocks, bonds and other types of investments. But why, and what is a portfolio, really? First, let's consider some of the common investments chosen by people who use a 401(k) plan at work. Many of them by default are put into mutual funds. That's a kind of portfolio, but usually a portfolio of stocks and only stocks. Increasingly, too, people are being placed by default into target-date funds. These are collections of mutual funds t...