Free to all AAII members, Investing Pathways (www.investingpathways.com) is an AAII sister Web site that provides 401(k) investing education and advice. The focus is squarely on topics crucial to retirement planning—the basics of 401(k) investing, risk and reward trade-offs and asset allocation.

Buttons running across the home page take you to the following main areas of the site that you will want to check out.

Guides and Classroom

The Guides area offers numerous articles and commentaries about various 401(k) investing topics. Included are the Mutual Fund Investing Guide, Top Web Sites Guide, Ultimate Asset Allocation Guide and Money and Investing Guide. Each guide provides educational articles ranging from the basics—explaining mutual fund categories—to more complex issues—changing asset allocation as retirement nears.

The Classroom section provides investing mini-courses such as First Steps to Successful Investing, Choosing the Best Fund for You and Saving for Your Retirement. Interactive quizzes and printer-friendly versions of the detailed step-by-step courses are also found in this section.

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Quarterly Newsletter

A quarterly newsletter features a variety of investing subjects including taxes, modern portfolio theory, and a question and answer session with different financial professionals. A new newsletter is posted on the Investing Pathways Web site each quarter.

Portfolio Makeover

In the Portfolio Makeover area, you get an inside look at how actual investors manage their finances. Read what professionals have to say about each portfolio—a concise evaluation of the good and bad, along with realistic steps that can be taken to correct deficiencies. The evaluated portfolios address issues such as a family with children worried about college and retirement, a retired couple trying to maintain their current lifestyle, a couple nearing retirement and a self-employed worker concerned about adequate savings. In many cases, you’ll find subtle ways to improve your own portfolio through these makeovers.

Professional Portfolio Observer

Investors can review specific portfolio allocations for investors of different age groups as recommended by financial planners with the Professional Portfolio Observer. First, you choose an appropriate investor profile based on your age and investment horizon, and then a portfolio allocation that best matches your criteria is offered. A pie chart shows a breakdown of suggested percentage allocations in large, small and international stocks and intermediate and short-term bonds for the aggressive, moderate, and conservative investor. Year-to-date and one-, five-, and 10-year annual performance results are provided based on the allocation suggestions, and benchmark returns for the stock and bond subcategories are also shown.