Seven Pillars of Asset Allocation Wisdom

"It [is] a common defect of men in fair weather to take no thought of storms." -- Machiavelli

For most folks reading this article, the past three years have marked the first storm in their investing lifetime -- many neglected to stock up on umbrellas back in 1999.

Three years into the storm, the forecast for the markets isn't great: There's a decent chance the markets will be fairly lousy over the next decade or so.

"From 1966 to 1982, the markets went sideways," says Louis Stanasolovich, founder and chief executive of Legend Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh. "It looks to me like we're in 1968 -- when stocks didn't return very much, middling bonds were barely better and inflation beat them both." ...