Building a Diversified Investment Portfolio 5 Different Ways

by Tarik Pierce on December 11, 2006

This past week, I’ve been working on adding two additional businesses to my personal investment portfolio.

This will increase my total investment holdings to 5 sources of growth. My current investments are as follows:

ShareBuilder Stock Portfolio

My ShareBuilder Portfolio is strictly for positions for which I plan to hold for the long run. Due to a few stock sales, it needs to be rebalanced at the end of the year. Most likely, I’ll plunge into foreign investments as well as a few tech stocks if they’re cheap.

Import-Export

I am in the works of starting an import-export business to add more wealth to my investment portfolio. This idea started recently and is still under development.

Lending Activities

Offering loans is another source of income that I wish to pursue. You can borrow or lend money at Prosper, a website that facilitates the process of borrowing money from other strangers.

I can tap into my savings (what’s left of it) and liquidate a few assets that are lying around the house to generate startup funds. So far, I’ve gathered over $300 in old collectibles and unused electronics that can be monetized on eBay.

A review on Prosper the sites is in the works.

Blogging

There are multiple ways to monetize your blog and add extra income to your bottom line. Determining how to precisely place ads on Investor Trip to generate steady revenue without annoying visitors is my ultimate goal.

Google Adsense provides rich, contextual ads but they are easily passed over, due to ad blindness, so placing them in optimal position is an arduous task.

Amazon and Commission Junction are my other two monetization tools, and I use them sparingly throughout the site.

Fidelity Roth IRA

I hold Fidelity Freedom Funds 2050 in this account. Check out my post which outlines the best Roth IRA accounts.

Update: I sold my FFFHX stake in April 2007.

My Future Investment Outlook

I will continue to contribute the full $4,000 to my Roth IRA, rebalance my stock portfolio by adding a foreign small cap and removing two stocks, Bank of America (BAC) and Staples (SPLS) at the month’s end, and plan my other two investment opportunities as the year winds down.

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Chinese Stocks to Watch in 2007 Series - Investor Trip
February 21, 2007 at 4:01 am

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Chris B. December 15, 2006 at 8:32 pm

TJP,
I had never heard of Prosper.com until I read this blog entry. I have been researching Prosper the past couple of days and am thinking about opening an account and lending some of my money. The interest rates are so high that even if some of the borrowers default on their loans, a lender should still be able to make over 10% return with a diversified portfolio.
I would like to hear more about your import/export business if you get that started. This is a great blog. Keep up the good work!

TJP December 15, 2006 at 10:23 pm

Prospers allows you to lend out lots of small loans to help you diversify risk. I recommended loaning to group and non-group members to achieve the best return on your money.

Members who are part of existing groups on Prosper are rewarded with lower interest rates because groups members are more likely to cover their end of the loan than individual borrowers.

So if you mix and match group and non-group members, you should be able to earn 10% interest annually.

As for my import-export business, I’m currently working on the business plan because I must apply for various licenses before I get up and running.

I’ll keep everyone posted.

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