Olympics coming this week.

With the 2008 Summer Olympic Games starting later this week, bringing together people from many countries around the globe for competition and social interaction. It is a good time to reiterate the consideration of global investing as part of a diversified portfolio. Diversification can be your best protection against risk. It allows you to balance cash, fixed income and equity investments. Not only should one do this with domestic company investments, but it is important to do this with investments of foreign companies (bonds, stocks, or mutual funds allow you to participate in these markets).

Currently, 21 of the worldwide GDP is generated by the Unites States. It is estimated that by 2030, this will fall to 10%. So, currently 79% of the worldwide GDP is generated by countries OTHER than the United States. If you only invest in domestic securities and currencies you are limiting yourself tremendously.

Watching the Olympics you will see athletes from many countries, some you may not know much about. Use this opportunity to learn about other countries, cultures, and business environments and have this knowledge help your investment portfolio. You can invest in individual securities, but it is usually much easier to invest through a mutual fund. There are a number of choices out there and some big mutual fund companies like Vanguard and Fidelity are good places to start the investigation into what is out there. There is good free information about investing, asset allocation, diversification, and risk for you to review.