What baseball can teach you about investing

Who do you think will win the World Series? Why?

Understanding how the best squads get together can teach you a thing or two about investing.

For instance, a manager's selection of a batting order is a bit like diversifying your investment assets.

A baseball manager has nine players who get to bat. At any given time, some players will be hot, while others slump. You can say the same about investments in a ­diversified portfolio.

For example, consider a portfolio of 80 percent U.S. stocks and 20 percent international stocks. In some years, both markets rise in tandem; over shorter periods, maybe one does better than the other. You can't predict with great accuracy when one market will outperform the other, just like you can't foresee when an individual hitter will see his bat heat up.

Some players swing for the fence. Others hit singles. Both play an important role within the lineup. Your investment portfolio needs different holdings that spread your portfolio across separate, complementary categories. Your stock holdings may span a multitude of sectors, regions and currencies. Your bond holdings can spread across different credit ratings and maturities.

These different investments interact with one another to help lower your overall portfolio risk and optimize your returns.

Yes, we all love to tinker. A ball manager who constantly messes with the lineup usually hurts the team, though. The same goes in investing. Your emotional instincts to change your approach, based on the news or your short-term opinion of the market, are similarly likely to add little value.

Finally, a great manager keeps sending the best players out to bat even when they are in a slump. In your diversified portfolio you never seem to own enough of the winners and feel like you hold more of the losers. This illusion is one aspect of diversification.

Writer and financial analyst Ben Carlson says, "Diversification is about accepting good enough while missing out on great but avoiding ­terrible." Your portfolio doesn't need exceptional returns for you to meet your financial goals. Careful planning and patience usually produce winning records on both the ball ­diamond and Wall Street.