ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Barbell strategy

Okay kiddo, so imagine you want to play with two kinds of balls: red balls and blue balls. But you're not sure which one is better, so you want to have some of each just in case.

The barbell strategy is kind of like that. But instead of playing with balls, it's a way of investing your money in two different ways to be safe and make money.

One way is to put a lot of your money into very safe things, like bonds or savings accounts. This is like having a lot of red balls. You're not going to make a ton of money from these things, but you know they're safe and you won't lose money.

The other way is to put a little bit of your money into more risky things, like stocks in a company that you think will grow a lot in the future. This is like having a few blue balls. These things might make you a lot of money, but they're not as safe and you could lose some of your money if things go wrong.

So, the barbell strategy is all about having a balance between safe and risky investments. You want to be safe and make some money with the safe investments, but you also want to take some risks with some of your money so you have the chance to earn more. It's like having some red balls and some blue balls to play with, so you can have fun and be safe at the same time!