A new study shows most stocks have lost value in the last 100 years. Take these 3 steps to protect your portfolio.

• A caller study shows 51.6% of US stocks since 1925 mislaid worth complete their lifetimes.
• But location are steps 1 tin return to mitigate risk, says Lance Roberts.
• He advises diversification, stop-loss orders, and profit-taking.

It whitethorn travel arsenic a astonishment that astir stocks suffer worth complete their lifetimes, fixed nan semipermanent outperformance of awesome indexes for illustration nan S&P 500.

A recent paper from Arizona State University professor Hendrik Bessembinder recovered that 51.6% of 29,078 US stocks since 1925 person mislaid worth from erstwhile they were listed. The median return of those stocks was -7.4%.

If you're an investor who likes to support your money successful individual stocks alternatively of an scale fund, those mightiness beryllium scary statistics. But location are a fewer steps you tin return to mitigate risk, according to RIA Advisors Chief Investment Strategist Lance Roberts, who discussed nan insubstantial successful a caller note.

To commencement — it's proposal you perceive clip and again — make judge your money is diversified enough.

Diversification comes successful galore forms. In summation to putting money into stocks, possibly see investing successful bonds and existent estate, Roberts said. You could besides see spreading your money crossed a number of different industries and sectors, alternatively of having your full portfolio in, say, a fewer tech stocks. A elemental measurement of doing that could besides beryllium putting money into an scale fund.

You tin besides group up stop-loss orders. This tin beryllium done successful a brokerage account, and your position is sold if a stock value falls to a definite point. There's besides nan trailing stop-loss order, Roberts said, which adjusts based connected upward movements successful a stock's price. So a 5% stop-loss limit, for example, moves up to correspond to a level 5% beneath a stock's rising price, but will ne'er dip beneath nan original stop-loss limit.

"This safeguard ensures that you are not solely reliant connected timing nan market, which, arsenic we each know, is astir intolerable to do consistently," Roberts said.

And third, take profits connected gains. With Nvidia and different AI stocks delivering ungodly returns complete nan past mates of years, this portion of proposal mightiness beryllium bully for investors successful those firms to hear. It tin beryllium tempting to enactment afloat successful a banal that has treated you well. But doing truthful whitethorn besides melt distant nan wealthiness you've built if nan banal has a abrupt turnaround, Roberts said.

"This is not an uncommon rumor that I ever spot pinch clients and prospects," Roberts wrote. "Greed comes successful 3 destructive forms: 1) nan request to make more, 2) nan deficiency of knowing erstwhile "enough is enough," and 3) nan unwillingness to salary taxes."

He suggested a strategy resembling thing for illustration taking half of your gains and buying safer assets for illustration Treasurys, and said to support successful mind that paying taxes connected superior gains tin beryllium cheaper than suffering losses.

"As investors, it's important to understand that marketplace gains are ne'er guaranteed and that nan risks of overexposure tin beryllium devastating," Roberts said. If you're "riding nan activity of monolithic marketplace gains, inquire yourself: Is now nan clip to return immoderate chips disconnected nan table? Are your investments aligned pinch your semipermanent goals and consequence tolerance?"