Risk Is Unavoidable

Every financial choice carries risk — even the ones that feel safe. A savings account risks losing to inflation. A CD locks your cash away when you might need it. A pile of bills under the mattress is the surest loser of all. There is no shelf marked "zero risk."

So the real question is never "risky or safe." It is: which risks am I willing to take? A stock portfolio can lurch up and down in any given year, and that feels frightening. But stretch the view to decades, and the S&P 500 has historically come out ahead over every 20-year stretch on record.