Getting your start in real estate investing can be extremely intimidating. There are so many investment options to choose from, and since every investor is starting from a different place with different financial goals and interests, there isn't always a clear direction on where to start. Rather than figuring it out on your own, below are a few different scenarios to help you determine what your first real estate investment should be based on your interests, available capital, and end goals.

The type of investment you target will depend on what your goal is for investing in real estate. Are you looking for passive income or are you looking to generate capital quickly? Both can serve you well and be achieved by the type of investment you target will differ based on your desires.

Consider how much money you have available to invest. Most lenders will require a 20% down payment or more when purchasing an investment property, which means for a $100,000 property you would need a minimum of $20,000. If the property needs repairs or improvements, your capital investment just went up. If you only have $5,000 to $10,000 to invest, your options are limited when compared to those who have $25,000 or more.

It's also important to consider where you're located. If you're in a market that's expensive or highly competitive, $10,000 or $20,000 may not go far. In that case, consider looking just outside your target market. Many rural or suburban areas next to the major metros will have more opportunity and lower real estate prices. Having an investment in your backyard definitely makes it easier at times, but it isn't a requirement.

It's also important you don't spend all of your life savings on your first real estate investment. It's a good idea to have additional savings set aside and invest with money set aside specifically for investing.

Having built up equity in your home can be a very helpful tool in providing additional cash to invest, especially in low interest-rate environments like we're in today, but I suggest tapping into the equity with caution. Taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or refinancing can provide you with more money for your first deal, but it puts your personal residence on the line in order to do so. If the deal goes south, are you comfortable knowing your equity is gone and you're stuck with a potentially higher mortgage payment than before?

If you have anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 available to invest, I would suggest your first real estate investment should be a fix-and-flip property to help generate more cash. Rehabs require careful market analysis to ensure accurate estimation for rehab cost and holding costs and that after-repair value can be achieved. But if done well, it can be a very lucrative business model.

If you don't own your own home and have at least $10,000 or more saved, I would suggest your first real estate investment be your own personal residence, ideally a duplex or a single-family home that has an additional unit, such as an inlaw suite, that you can rent. While a duplex may not be your dream home, it's a great way to offset property expenses and pay off your mortgage faster by having rental income. It's unlikely the duplex will generate positive net income for you, but instead will help offset all or a portion of your mortgage. You can choose to use the additional savings to pay down the mortgage faster or save that extra money for your next investment.

If you have $20,000 or more, I would suggest a rental property as your first real estate investment. This can be a single-family rental or preferably a multifamily residential property like a duplex, triplex, or fourplex. While not always the case, multifamily residential properties can provide higher returns while mitigating risk by having multiple tenants to offset unexpected expenses or vacancies when they occur. Buying value-add rental properties, or properties that need renovations in order to rent optimally, will almost always provide better returns and can still provide cash flow and rental income as well as the added benefit of increased equity from the improvements that were made.

If you're not interested in fix-and-flips or are looking to invest passively, I would suggest getting started in real estate by purchasing shares in a real estate investment trust (REIT). REITs provide access and diversification of real estate without requiring you to be an active participant in the management of the properties. This form of real estate investing is particularly great for those who want to get started but may only have a few thousand dollars saved up. Rather than sitting on the sidelines as you save more money to invest, you can grow that money by investing in REITs.

Remember, there's no perfect first investment for everyone. I personally did none of these things when I got started in real estate and was still able to build a successful investing career. The suggestions above are the most accessible and easy ways to get started. Once you get your feet wet, plus a few investments under your belt, then you can consider branching out to larger commercial real estate investments or more complex investing strategies, like mortgage notes.

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This Is What Your First Real Estate Investment Should Be - Motley Fool

MCLEAN, VA / ACCESSWIRE / November 3, 2020 / Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) (the "Company") today announced earnings for its second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2020. Please read the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which is available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov or the investors section of the Company's website at http://www.gladstoneinvestment.com.

Summary Information: (dollars in thousands, except per share data (unaudited)):

September 30, 2020

June 30, 2020

Change

%

Change

For the quarter ended:

Total investment income

$

11,840

$

10,707

$

1,133

10.6

%

Total expenses, net(A)

7,472

6,534

938

14.4

Net investment income(A)

4,368

4,173

195

4.7

Net realized gain

621

753

(132

)

(17.5

)

Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

1,641

(4,887

)

6,528

NM

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations(A)

6,630

39

6,591

NM

Net investment income per weighted-average common share(A)

0.13

0.13

-

-

Adjusted net investment income per weighted-average common share(B)

0.15

0.11

0.04

36.4

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations per weighted-average common share(A)

0.20

-

0.20

100.0

Cash distribution per common share from net investment income

0.20

0.28

(0.08

)

(28.6

)

Cash distribution per common share from net realized gains(C)

0.01

0.02

(0.01

)

(50.0

)

Weighted-average yield on interest-bearing investments

12.1

11.8

0.3

2.5

Total dollars invested

$

57,082

$

300

$

56,782

NM

Total dollars repaid and

collected from sales

1,484

620

864

139.4

As of:

Total investments, at fair value

$

608,962

$

561,342

$

View original post here:
Gladstone Investment Corporation Reports Financial Results for its Second Quarter Ended September 30, 2020 - Yahoo Finance

BIRDSBORO PA Reitnouer Inc., the Birdsboro manufacturer of aluminum flatbed and drop deck trailers, has received a $15,000 investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania to help the company improve production flow and operational efficiencies. Reitnouer sales have fallen during the coronavirus pandemic, the regional economic development fund said.

The cash infusion will be matched by the company, which before the pandemic saw sales growing, according to Ben Franklin. But the transportation industry has been strongly affected by the virus, it added, and its money is intended to support Reitnouers innovative approach in building the structures that improves product strength and durability.

The investment will improve the companys productivity and position it for recovery and growth, a Ben Franklin media release stated Oct. 27 (Tuesday).

The money won by Reitnouer is part of a total of $407,130 awarded to nine companies in the funds 21-county service area. Ben Franklin Technology Partners is a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners project office photo (at top) from one of its videos

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Birdsboro Trailer Manufacturer Wins Fund Investment - The Post - The Sanatoga Post

(Christy Bieber)

Having enough money in retirement is essential to enjoy your later years. To make sure you're financially comfortable, it helps to estimate how much income you'll need your retirement savings to produce. For example, say you're hoping to have $50,000 in annual retirement income. Here's the amount you'd need to save to meet that milestone.

If you're like most retirees, chances are you'll get your income from two sources: your Social Security benefits and your investments. If you receive a Social Security benefit of $1,514 per month (the average as of June 2020), that would mean you'd need your investment accounts to produce $31,832 in income in order to have $50,000 as a retiree.

Image source: Getty Images.

You'll want to make sure taking this much out of your retirement accounts won't drain your nest egg too quickly. That means adopting a safe withdrawal rate. If you follow the 4% rule, which allows you to withdraw 4% of your investment account balance the first year you retire and adjust withdrawals up by inflation annually, you'd need $795,800 saved by the time of your retirement in order for your investment balance to produce the $31,832 that combines with your Social Security to give you $50,000.

See the article here:
Want $50000 in Retirement Income? Here's How to Get It. - dbrnews.com

by Salvatore Minetti, CEO of Fountech.Ventures

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic is more than just an epidemiological event. The virus has been unprecedented in the size and nature of its impact across all sections of societyand the investment landscape has been no exception.

The onset of the virus has prompted startups and burgeoning companies to pivot their offerings, with many finding new and pioneering ways to survive and secure investment in the new normal. Some companies have been luckier than others, with the pandemic re-igniting interest in their business.

Here at Fountech.Ventures, for instance, we have seen the deep tech space rise to prominence. Demand for technologies that look to have a big impact by building new infrastructure is exploding, and this is in part driven by the increasing availability of capital and reducing tech barriers to entry.

While an initial dip in confidence was to be expected, new data shows that funds raised in 2020 have already surpassed the total in 2019, despite the unremitting uncertainty. According to a report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, U.S. venture capital funds closing this year had raised $56.6 billion as of September 30more than $54.9 raised in all of 2019.

Although the venture capital market has proven resilient, the pandemic has still reshaped the market in many ways. And with the virus showing no signs of abating just yet, founders and investors alike will be wondering what the long-term effects will be for companies looking for much-needed capital.

Over the last decade, cleaner, more founder-friendly terms have increasingly replaced the onerous provisions traditionally demanded by VCs. It is fair to presume that, in an attempt to de-risk the investment process in the post-COVID landscape, investors might try to reintroduce some of their old tactics and in turn herald the return of convoluted term sheets.

Thankfully, it is unlikely that the pandemic will prompt a reversion to aggressive terms, although founders should be ready for some adjustments. No doubt, VCs will be more cautious in the short term, but they will also be eager to back businesses offering innovative solutions to new obstacles.

In the long-run, aggressive terms will affect the most important currency in venture capital: reputation. In my recent experience, founders know their value, and as such, they will walk away in search of a new partner offering more agreeable terms: ideally, one that is able to help them de-risk rather than merely pointing out those risks.

There are compelling opportunities across many sectors that the pandemic will accelerate. In the current climate, digital-first business models will have a more immediate appeal for VCs, with changing consumer behavior further driving demand for solutions that can digitize physical processes.

Founders can expect to see further capital directed towards companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) and data science space, that promise profitability in a time of uncertainty. Investors will be on the lookout for long-term survivors that they can steer towards sustained success; namely, companies that present clear digital solutions to modern challenges. Notably, industries such as edtech, fintech, and ecommerce have all recently been cast into the spotlight due to the nature of their pandemic-related problem-solving capabilities.

That said, in order to safeguard their reserves, VC investors are still unlikely to engage until the later stages of the startup journey. Instead, they will look to back already established business models and those who already have pre-seed funding. Startup founders would therefore be better off looking to venture builders that can not only offer early-stage investment, but also the tools and support needed to navigate these uncharted waters.

The introduction of social distancing practices has seen the en-masse switch to remote working, with companies all over the world trading in their office desks for their kitchen tables. For the investment landscape, initially, this was cause for concern. With face-to-face meetings no longer an option, founders were apprehensive about the lack of opportunities for mentorship. Meanwhile, investors will have been concerned about the dampened prospect of closing deals.

However, this neednt have been the case, as it seems that VCs and startups alike have transitioned comfortably into the world of remote working. As the figures show, investors have been able to manage their day-to-day with minimal disruption; whether this is completing valuations, or offering advice to founders, the new business as usual has largely been a success.

This is not to say that the changes have been without complications; it is safe to say that the process has required some careful thought and adjustment. VCs and portfolio companies alike will have needed to review their internal business plans and processes to decide how best to build relationships and scale businesses in a virtual setting.

Yet this is not necessarily a bad thing; while not meeting people in person can make things difficult, remote working has served to highlight the value of strong communication. Indeed, VCs will likely have a deeper understanding of their portfolio companies and the challenges that they face on a daily basis as a result of more frequent and strategic communication.

All things considered, opportunities are certainly there for progressive markets and investors. I anticipate seeing more promising startups demonstrate their inherent ability to make the most of a crisis, with the aid of forward-looking VCs at their side.

Salvatore Minetti is the CEO ofFountech.Ventures, which acts as venture builder and investor for deep tech and AI startups. With a presence in Austin, Texas, US, and London, UK, the company supports startups through the stages of ideation, development, commercialization and funding.

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How has COVID-19 changed the VC investment landscape? - The Burn-In

It is tempting to chase high returns in the market? Maybe.

Why would you wait a year for 10% return when you could have it all in a day?

Investors chasing high returns will sometimes turn toleveragedin order todoubleor eventripletheir returns. But investing in leveraged ETFs is akin to spinning a roulette wheel.

With high returns comeshigh risk, and unless you're an experienced investor you should steer clear of leveraged ETFs.

More from ETF Edge:Heres what every election since 1900 can tell us about the 2020 races impact on stocks Why are ETFs so appealing to investors?ETF Edge explains: Tax risks of ETFS

These ETFs promise to amplify the returns of an underlying index using debt, equity swaps and financial derivatives to create leverage. Leveraging is an investing strategy that uses borrowed funds to purchase options and futures in order to increase the impact of price movements. It is a very complicated process. And if gains can be amplified -- so can losses.

Another problem: leveraged ETFs only seek results that are leveraged to their benchmark for a single day. For example, if you buy an ETF that is 2x leveraged to the S&P 500, if the S&P rises 1% that day, you will get a return of 2%, but only for that day. The ETF resets the next day. If you are still holding it the following day, your return could be substantially different than 2x.

Not only is there outsized risk but management fees and transaction costs that come with leveraged ETFs can eat away at a fund's return. Many leveraged ETFs have expense ratios of 1% or more.

Tetra Images | Getty Images

Because of the risks and costs, Leveraged ETFs are typically used by day traders who want to speculate on an index and are rarely used as long term investments.

These same warnings apply to another class of leveraged ETFs leveraged inverse ETFs, which try to deliver returns that are the opposite of the index's returns. So for example, if you had an ETF that was 2x leveraged inversely to the S&P 500, if the S&P went up 1% in a day, your investment would decline 2%.

The bottom line is unless you intimately understand how these ETFs are designed and can stomach the significant risk associated with them, steer clear of leveraged ETFs.

Disclaimer

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This is why only thrill seekers invest in leveraged ETFs - CNBC

Wind farms are key part of renewable energy mix on offer. Photo: Getty

An increasing number of investors believe that sustainable investments lead to higher returns, according to a new study from Block-Builders.net that was released on Tuesday.

It found that 44% of knowledgeable or expert investors fall into this category, with those in Asia and America particularly enthusiastic about social and green investments. German and European investors are lagging behind, it added.

"More and more investors are coming round to the idea that sustainability and returns are not mutually exclusive," said Block-Builders analyst Raphael Lulay. "Despite recent gains for these assets, we may still be at the beginning of a long term investment trend.

The study also found that 37% of financial experts did not want to include sustainable environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investments in their portfolios in 2007, while only 4.1% are equally hesitant in 2020.

Further data reflects this growing interest.

According to the Block-Builders.net survey, interest in sustainable stocks reached a 12-month high on Google in 2020. The Google trend score, which indicates the relative search volume, reached a maximum trend score of 100 based on this search result.

This nascent trend is also seen on the trading floor.

Sustainable investments in the form of funds and shares have been among the recent leaders on various indices. Over the last 12 months, the Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) rose by 68.8%. The MSCI World Socially Responsible ETF (UC44.L) also gained 4.9% in value - all in a period during which the DAX (^GDAXI) has declined by around 6.8%, said the study.

The news comes as the European Central Bank said it plans to review its strategy and adopt more sustainable investment practices. According to ECB policymaker Olli Rehn in an interview on Monday, the bloc needs to take into account growing global challenges, such as climate change and the need for sustainable economic development.

WATCH: What is the Green Home Grants scheme?

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More investors believe sustainable investments 'deliver higher returns' - Yahoo Sports

Friendlys files for bankruptcy a second time, plans to sell restaurants to investor group

Friendlys, the East Coast restaurant chain known for its ice cream and diner fare, has filed for voluntary bankruptcy amid declining revenue due to the pandemic.

Over the last two years, Friendlys has made important strides toward reinvigorating our beloved brand in the face of shifting demographics, increased competition, and rising costs, Friendlys CEO George Michael said in a press release. Unfortunately, like many restaurant businesses, our progress was suddenly interrupted by the catastrophic impact of COVID-19, which caused a decline in revenue as dine-in operations ceased for months and re-opened with limited capacity.

The 85-year-old chain intends to sell its assets to Amici Partners Group, an investor group affiliated with Brix Holdings, the restaurant company behind Red Mango, Smoothie Factory, and other franchises. Restaurant Business reports that the selling price will fall just under $2 million. Friendlys boasted more than 500 locations a decade ago, before it first filed for bankruptcy in 2011; currently, the chain is down to 130. Nearly all of those locations are expected to remain open as the bankruptcy and sale proceedings continue; afterward, Amici expects to retain employees at corporate-owned restaurants, per the release.

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Friendlys Will Sell to Investment Group for Less Than $2 Million - Eater

While the market driven by short-term sentiment influenced by the accomodative interest rate environment in the US, virus news and stimulus talks, many smart money investors are starting to get cautious towards the current bull run since March and hedging or reducing many of their long positions. Some fund managers are betting on Dow hitting 30,000 to generate strong returns. However, as we know, big investors usually buy stocks with strong fundamentals that can deliver gains both in bull and bear markets, which is why we believe we can profit from imitating them. In this article, we are going to take a look at the smart money sentiment surrounding AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC).

Is AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) going to take off soon? The smart money was becoming more confident. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 10 in recent months. AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was in 37 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of June. The all time high for this statistics is 27. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that AGNC isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q2 rankings and see the video for a quick look at the top 5 stocks). There were 27 hedge funds in our database with AGNC positions at the end of the first quarter. Video: Watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.

Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 58 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.

Story continues

Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group

At Insider Monkey we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 most profitable companies in the world to pick the best large-cap stocks to buy. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our website to get excerpts of these letters in your inbox. With all of this in mind we're going to take a gander at the key hedge fund action regarding AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC).

At the end of June, a total of 37 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 37% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 23 hedge funds with a bullish position in AGNC a year ago. With the smart money's sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

The largest stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was held by OZ Management, which reported holding $99.3 million worth of stock at the end of June. It was followed by D E Shaw with a $63.1 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Arrowstreet Capital, Citadel Investment Group, and Clough Capital Partners. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Almitas Capital allocated the biggest weight to AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC), around 7.57% of its 13F portfolio. One Fin Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 5.3 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to AGNC.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) headfirst. OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, initiated the biggest position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC). OZ Management had $99.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell's Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $38.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AGNC investors: Charles Clough's Clough Capital Partners, Robert Henry Lynch's Aristeia Capital, and Renaissance Technologies.

Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC). These stocks are AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), Companhia de Saneamento Bsico do Estado de So Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS), WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX), Five9 Inc (NASDAQ:FIVN), Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE), Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI), and Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND). This group of stocks' market values are similar to AGNC's market value.

[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ATR,26,210604,6 SBS,10,270233,2 WEX,24,399174,-11 FIVN,44,1130157,11 CHE,26,351128,1 ACI,30,2773996,30 ASND,31,2509539,-2 Average,27.3,1092119,5.3 [/table]

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 27.3 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1092 million. That figure was $458 million in AGNC's case. Five9 Inc (NASDAQ:FIVN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Companhia de Saneamento Bsico do Estado de So Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for AGNC is 79.7. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.4% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10.1 percentage points. These stocks gained 23% in 2020 through October 30th and still beat the market by 20.1 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on AGNC as the stock returned 12.1% since the end of Q2 (through 10/30) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.

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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.

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Were These Hedge Funds Right About Loading Up On AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC)? - Yahoo Finance

Wall Street's worry is much ado about nothing.

The big day is here. Americans across our great country will head to their local voting booths or get one final chance to mail in their ballots to determine who'll lead the United States in the years to come. At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, a third of all Senate seats, and the big chair in the Oval Office.

While local elections will obviously have differing levels of importance to the American populace, the two most closely watched races are for the U.S. Senate, where Republicans currently hold a relatively small majority, and the White House, where Democratic Party challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden will look to unseat incumbent Republican Donald Trump.

For roughly the past six months, Wall Street has been dissecting what a Biden or Trump win would mean for the U.S. economy and stock market. Keep in mind, though, that equities and the economy aren't tied at the hip and do move in opposite directions, on occasion.

Many pundits believe that a Biden win would bring more day-to-day stability and transparency to fiscal policy, but would come at the expenses of corporate profits. That's because Biden's tax plan, which aims to make 12 major changes to the U.S. tax code, would increase the peak corporate marginal tax rate to 28% from 21%. Trump's flagship Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is what slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. If Biden were to get his tax plan through Congress, Wall Street expects corporate earnings would fall by around 10%.

Comparatively, another four years of Donald Trump would be met with fiscal uncertainty, but probably cheering from corporations. Even if Democrats were to sweep both houses of Congress, it wouldn't be enough to sway Trump to increase peak corporate tax rates.

It's this uncertainty of what'll happen on Election Day that has the market jittery.

But I have a cure that'll make investors far less nervous about the outcome. Take a gander at this chart of the benchmark S&P 500 since the beginning of 1950:

Notice something? The broad-based S&P 500 tends to move higher far more often than it moves lower, with bull markets substantially outlasting periods of recession. Even though recessions are far more common than you might realize, the expansion of corporate operating earnings over time, regardless of who's been president, has pushed equity valuations higher.

Furthermore, since April 1945, the vast majority of presidents have overseen a bull market expansion (figures in parentheses denote a decline):

Harry Truman (1945-1953), Democrat: S&P 500 return +87%

Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), Republican: +129%

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963), Democrat: +16%

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969), Democrat: +46%

Richard Nixon (1969-1974), Republican: (20%)

Gerald Ford (1974-1977), Republican: +26%

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Democrat: +28%

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), Republican: +117%

George H.W. Bush (1989-1993), Republican: +51%

Bill Clinton (1993-2001), Democrat: +210%

George W. Bush (2001-2009), Republican: (40%)

Barack Obama (2009-2017), Democrat: +182%

Donald Trump (2017-current), Republican: +48%

Though the annualized return of 10.6% for Democrats over the past 75 years and six months, pardon the pun, trumps the 4.8% annualized return for Republicans, the fact is that the stock market tends to do well over long periods of time no matter which party is holding the reins.

The point is this: No matter who the White House tomorrow, life will go on in the corporate world. Investors will continue to be rewarded for their willingness to buy innovative and/or time-tested companies, and they'll be paid handsomely for hanging onto their winners over the long term.

In other words, you should stick to your investing game plan and not change a thing.

What you can consider doing is taking advantage of the unprecedented volatility we've witnessed this year, which may well follow the election. If the S&P 500 were to head lower, we concretely know from the chart above that, eventually, crashes and corrections are put into the rearview mirror by bull market rallies. This is to say that every notable move lower in the stock market since record-keeping began has proved to be a buying opportunity, as long as you have a long-term mindset.

Investors can also use the election as an opportunity to review their portfolio holdings. This doesn't mean sell your oil stocks if Biden wins, or cash in your chips on your solar stocks if Trump proves victorious. Rather, analyze whether your initial investment thesis in every company you own still holds water. If the reason(s) you took a stake in a publicly traded company is still valid, then it shouldn't matter whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump leads the nation over the next four years.

Keeping politics out of your pocketbook when it comes to investing is usually a prudent course of action.

Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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The big day is here. Americans across our great country will head to their local voting booths or get one final chance to mail in their ballots to determine who'll lead the United States in the years to come. At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, a third of all Senate seats, and the big chair in the Oval Office.

While local elections will obviously have differing levels of importance to the American populace, the two most closely watched races are for the U.S. Senate, where Republicans currently hold a relatively small majority, and the White House, where Democratic Party challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden will look to unseat incumbent Republican Donald Trump.

For roughly the past six months, Wall Street has been dissecting what a Biden or Trump win would mean for the U.S. economy and stock market. Keep in mind, though, that equities and the economy aren't tied at the hip and do move in opposite directions, on occasion.

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The stock market will be fine: Take a look at this chart - USA TODAY