Index Funds, If You Must

"I am in an index fund, so I'm just fine," you may think. But you may be wrong!

See, there are Domestic, Foreign and Emerging Markets stocks, and among them are Large, Medium, and Small companies, and each is likely of either the "growth" or "value" variety. On top of that, there are more than a dozen types of bonds. But each "index fund" usually only picks ONE of all those categories.

Investors should use a variety of index funds in order to balance risk and reward. But which index funds, and how much to put into each, are questions usually best answered by a professional. So, before you rest easy about your index fund, you should talk to a pro.