If you setup a portfolio with just long term (10-20 year) stocks, what would you pick?

gld?

The answer I would have given you 4-5 years ago would now be a wrong answer. The answer I would have given you 2 years ago would now be a wrong answer. I do not believe it is possible to pick any stocks suitable for retirement in a "fire and forget" manner.

And with the "jobs act" getting passed, the future looks to be 110% filled with Enrons, Worldcomms and Madoffs.

Part of why the US equity market was a place that international investors would participate in - instead of their own nations' stock markets - was due to our transparency and dependability with audits and regulations. HR 3606 kills that.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr3606/text

If you want good, solid blue chip stocks, just invest in any old fund that buys them for you.

That way, you *think* you're getting those good safe bets.

What you're not supposed to see is the sell off of high growth stocks to purchase blue chips just before their yearly prospectus is due.

After you're *informed* of the excellent choices you've made in them investing in good solid companies, they sell a good chunk of it to fund their high growth trading for the next year.

...to be continued.

Definitely avoid anything connected to the under 5 year old startups in the JOBS act. That will take a while to kick in, seems to be custom written to allow Groupon sorts of scams to get by with it, with no fear of arrests.

You can buy a lot of blue chip stocks and get 4-5% interest on dividends, better than the 1% interest savings is paying. That is not counting appreciation of the stock itself. Stuff like Proctor and Gamble, Kraft, etc.

Right now? Cash.

Concur with Idiot.

Blue chips with dividends for retirement.  Boring wins.

Playing High Growth (young companies, startups, etc) or playing Vegas; there is no difference.  Leave a lot of that risk on the table, with the "professionals".

Tsusugu...

For 10-20 years, I'd put most of the cash in what Idiot recommends, with a small part in small cap stocks (but only those which did file SEC papers) in sectors I understand.

Less than 10 years -- move to cash/treasuries.

Preferreds, corporate bond ETFs... stay the fuck out of equities for now.

Nah. There are good buying opportunities out there.

Watch out of ETFs. There's risk there which ain't easy to see.