By Stephen Kates, CFP, Bankrate.com

No risk, no return!

How many times have you heard that phrase or something similar?

It’s usually meant to encourage. A rallying cry for entrepreneurship, industry and capitalism, it also alludes to the inverse — that high risk translates into high return. But when it comes to investing, it isn’t quite so simple.

Risk vs. return in investing

While risk and potential return can be intimately related, it’s not a one-to-one relationship, which is why managing risk in an investment portfolio is one of — if not the most — critical aspects of investing.

It is entirely possible to take huge risks and have no reasonable expectation of an outsize return. This might be most closely associated with gambling. If all you’re doing is betting big and hoping for

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