Questions 16-22 •Look at the notes. •Some information is missing. •You will hear part of a talk by an investment consultant of

M: Hi, I’m George Brown.  I have been engaged in investment consultation for many years and have successfully helped some corporations in their investment with good returns. Have you ever wanted to invest, but didn’t know where to get started? We’re here today to present you with three basic guidelines to smart investing for your future. We hope it will be helpful to you.First of all you should have clear goals. It is quite necessary for you to decide how many years you will invest for, and what your needs wilI be in the future. The first step is very important and we may call it strategic planning.Once you’ve made the plan, you come to the second step.  That is, you have to understand the range of possibilities.  You’ll want a diversified portfolio; one with a mix of stocks,mutual funds, bonds, and cash. It’s a jungle out there and very complicated. Each of these products has different risks associated with them and also different potential rewards. You should understand them before you buy, and then there won’t be any big surprises later. We may call this step a learning one and you have to spend much time on it and make great efforts to study all these things before you understand them well. This is the hard part but quite worth doing.
     The last point is to have realistic expectations.As our friend Leonardo da Vinci said in the year 1500, "He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year. " Over the past several years, New York’s stocks have averaged 30% annual returns, hut don’t count on this continuing. While it’s true that since the year 1900, stocks have averaged an 11%annual return, it’s roller-coaster ride with many minus years as well, so you have to stay in for the long term-you have to weather the storm-and not be too greedy.