The business and real estate cycles have been present ever since economists have been tracking markets, they are cyclical (duh, that’s why it’s called a cycle) and largely due to human nature and the fight we face between fear and greed. Until human nature changes, these cycles will be ever-present, so it’s best you understand what they are and how if may affect your investment decisions.

You can think about a portfolio as a basket of assets. In this basket, you can place all sorts of investments. Bonds, ETFs, Stocks, Mutual Funds, Real Estate etc can all be thrown in. Traditionally many people either through personal investment or through their financial professional, have had a combination of stocks and bonds. The weighting can vary from 90% stocks and 10% bonds to the inverse, 10% stocks, 90% bonds. Typically the scale is tipped towards 60% stocks and 40% bonds, dubbed the 60/40. The question is, is it dead, suboptimal or working well?

There are always those people who profess that they can time the market. I’m definitely not one of those people. Instead I use a tried and true approach backed with evidence to shape my investing decisions.