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What can more than a century of market history actually teach us about building wealth? Exponential Wealth: Centuries of Stock and Bond Returns, published by the CFA Institute Research Foundation, brings together the Ibbotson long-term return dataset with 100 years of US market history, centuries of earlier data, and global evidence across countries and markets. The book looks at stocks, bonds, bills, inflation, risk premiums, drawdowns, compounding and diversification, before turning to the harder question of what historical returns can tell us about future expected returns. One of its most useful messages is that the extraordinary US experience should not automatically be treated as the universal outcome: the global and historical sections highlight survivorship bias, market disruption and the importance of looking beyond the US. It puts many of the ideas long-term investors rely on, compounding, the equity risk premium, diversification and expected returns, into a much longer historical and global context. It also makes a useful distinction between what markets have delivered and what investors should reasonably expect going forward.

Fixed Income Fund Types Should Be Aligned With Your Goals – There are eight categories that you may use in portfolio construction. Long-Term Investors In Accumulation Phase – often choose Government or Aggregate Bond ETFs, as they reduce the portfolio volatility. For such funds, most Investors tend to hedge currencies. Inflation Bond ETFs can provide further protection, but their long-duration can be problematic in certain European countries. Retired Investors – often use Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs or Mortgage Bond ETFs which de-risk Equity portfolios, while adding incremental yield. Short-Term Investors – can choose Money Market Funds, Short Duration Government or Investment Grade Corporate Bonds. Bonds To Avoid For Most Investors – Include more volatile segments like Emerging Markets or High-Yield Corporates. Both exhibit a stronger correlation with risk-on assets, limiting their utility in simple portfolios. But sometimes they are useful in retirement. NPL Funds – while high yielding – are a great addition, as they are decorrelated. But they are rarely accessible to individual investors.