Windjam

What will the ability to take risk be if:
1. The investor is young, has small asset base, his salary can fully cover his living expense

ABOVE AVERAGE- long time horizon, lots o' human capital, no dependents (if someone were relying on him then it wouldn't be above ave). in terms of willingness, always look for keywords that the investor says or look at the portfolio they have if you are given one. if the dude races fast cars and has tons of emerging mkts stocks and alts, above ave. if something less, notch it down.


2. The investor is old and retired, has large asset base, his living expense can partially covered by pension plan

i would lean here towards BELOW AVE, although the large asset base. it's more a preservation of capital thing unless it says he wants to go and gift to charity or kids some massive amt of $$ that maybe would make him want to be more aggressive. yeah, the dude could be more aggressive, but no need is sort of how i'd call this one.

not saying i'm right either- anyone else feel free to comment, but i usually come out ok on my IPS's (knock on wood).