There is no shortage of tipsters around offering 'get-rich-quick' opportunities. But if you are a serious private investor， leave the Las Vegas mentality2 to those with money to fritter. The serious investor needs a proper 'portfolio3' a well-planned selection of investments， with a definite structure and a clear aim. But exactly how does a newcomer to the stock market go about achieving that？
Well， if you go to five reputable stock brokers5 and ask them what you should do with your money， you're likely to get five different answers， even if you give all the relevant information about your age age， family， finances and what you want from your investments. Moral？ There is no one 'right' way to structure a portfolio. However， there are undoubtedly6 some wrong ways， and you can be sure that none of our five advisers7 would have suggested sinking all （or perhaps any） of your money into Periwigs*.
So what should you do？ We'll assume that you have sorted out the basics like mortgages， pensions， insurance and access to sufficient cash reserves. You should then establish your own inpidual aims. These are partly a matter of personal circumstances， partly a matter of psychology8.
For instance， if you are older you have less time to recover from any major losses， and you may well wish to boost your pension income. So preserving your capital and generating extra income are your main priorities. In this case， you'd probably construct a portfolio with some shares （but not high risk ones）， along with gilts10， cash deposits， and perhaps convertibles12 or the income shares of split capital investment trusts.
If you are younger， and in a solid financial position， you may decide to take an aggressive approach but only if you're blessed with a sanguine13 disposition14 and won't suffer sleepless15 nights over share prices. If portfolio， alongside your more pedestrian in vestments. once you have decided16 on your investment aims， you can then decide where to put your money. The golden rule here is spread your risk if you put all of your money into Periwigs International， you're setting yourself up as a hostage to fortune.
*'Periwigs' is the name of a fictitious17 company.
INVESTOR'S CHRONICLE， March 23 1990
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
portfolio
n. 投資組合
tipster
n. （以提供證券投機等內(nèi)部消息為主的）情報販子
Las Vegas
n. 拉斯韋加斯
fritter
v. 揮霍，浪費
reputable
n. 享有聲望的
broker4
n. 經(jīng)紀人
finance
n. 資金，財源
mortgage
n. 抵押貸款
pension
n. 養(yǎng)老金
priority
n. 優(yōu)先權(quán)
gilt9
n. 金邊證券（高度靠譜的證券）
convertible11
n. 可換證券
sanguine
adj. 樂觀的
heady
adj. 讓人陶醉的
alongside
prep. 在旁邊，和一塊
pedestrian
adj. 平淡無奇的，乏味的
參考譯文
大家周圍不乏情報販子，向大家提供飛速發(fā)財致富的機會。但，假如你是一個認真的私人投資者，就把拉斯韋加斯的心態(tài)留給那些有錢可供揮霍的人。認真的投資者需要一份合法的投資組合表 一種計劃非常周密的投資選擇，包含你的投資結(jié)構(gòu)和明確的目的。但， 一個股票市場的小白又怎么樣能做到這一點呢？
假如你去向5位有威望的股票經(jīng)紀人咨詢，詢問你應該怎么用你的資金，你可能得到5種不一樣的回話，即使你提供了有關于你的年齡、家庭、財源和你想從投資中獲得好處的信息。這是個道德問題嗎？沒一種完全正確的辦法來排列這種投資組合，然而，卻毫無疑問地有幾種錯誤的辦法。可以相信5位經(jīng)紀人中不會有人建議你把全部（或一部份）資金投入佩里威格斯公司。
那樣你該如何做呢？大家假定你已把基本狀況弄了解了，如抵押貸款、養(yǎng)老金、保險金和動用現(xiàn)金儲備的機會。然后，你必須要打造起我們的目的。這里一方面是個所處的環(huán)境，其次是個心理學的問題。
譬如說，假如你年齡較大，你從重大投資損失中恢復過來的時間就較少，你就非常期望可以提升你的養(yǎng)老金收入。因此，你的最重要任務就是保護你的資金和引發(fā)額外的收入。在這樣的情況下，你大概想擬定一份包含某些股份（但不是風險非常大的股份）的投資組合，同時還有高度靠譜的證券、現(xiàn)金儲蓄，可能還有可換證券，或分割資本投資信托企業(yè)的所得股。
假如你年輕一些，并且經(jīng)濟情況靠譜，你或許會采取一種積極進取的方法 你需要性格開朗，不會因股票價格的浮動而夜不可以眠。假如你感覺你的狀況是如此的話，你可在投資組合中包含幾項有讓人陶醉的增值前景的增長股，和其他比較平淡的投資項目放在一塊。一旦你的投資組合中包含幾項有讓人陶醉的增值前景的增長股，和其他比較平淡的投資項目放在一塊。一旦你的投資目的確立將來，你就能決定你的錢投向什么地方。這里的指導原則是：分散你的投資風險。假如你把所有資金投入佩里威格斯國際公司，你就把自己當成了命的人質(zhì)