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Stage Nineteen
Beyond Stocks
Stage 19 · Act 8

Beyond Stocks

Real portfolios eventually touch bonds, real estate, commodities, and international equity. Across ten lessons you learn what each building block actually is — what you are lending to when you buy a bond, what a REIT really owns, why high-yield comes at the cost of growth, why international and emerging markets sit in the mix. And you finish by signing your own non-stock allocation pie.

10 lessons· 240 coins available· Earn the Diversifier badge

  1. 01

    Bonds Deep Dive: Gov / IG / HY

    A bond is a loan you give. Three borrowers, three risk levels, three different yields.

  2. 02

    Coupon, Maturity, Yield, YTM

    Four numbers describe every bond. They are easy once you separate what is fixed from what moves.

  3. 03

    Duration & Interest-Rate Risk

    Long bonds are wildly more sensitive to rate moves than short bonds. Here is the slider that proves it.

  4. 04

    Bond Laddering

    Buy bonds maturing every year. Reinvest the matured ones at the long end. Smooth the ride.

  5. 05

    REITs: Structure & Dividends

    REITs collect rent and pay it out. Realty Income vs the broad market — same starting investment, very different paths.

  6. 06

    Commodities: Gold, Oil, Agriculture

    Commodities are inputs to the real economy. They do not pay dividends. Most investors only need a small inflation hedge.

  7. 07

    International Equities (DM vs EM)

    The US is 60% of the global market. The other 40% is everything from Nestlé to TSMC — and it is not optional.

  8. 08

    Currency-Hedged vs Unhedged

    When you buy a foreign stock, you also buy that country's currency. Sometimes you want to strip that out.

  9. 09

    Alternatives: PE, Hedge Funds, Crypto

    Most retail investors cannot reach PE or hedge funds — and probably shouldn't. Crypto is its own category.

  10. 10

    How Each Fits into a Portfolio

    Bonds, REITs, international, alternatives. Slide each into your allocation. Sign the pie.

    Capstone
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Key terms

Plain-English definitions for every concept in this stage.