投资专家们自己如何理财?

Scott Kays just celebrated his 50th birthday and, like most people his age, is juggling career, family, mortgage payments, and other facts of daily life. He also makes sure that his investments and retirement goals are on track, and volunteers at his church and in his community.

Many people in Mr. Kays's situation would hire a financial adviser to tell them where to put their money and how to handle savings, investments, taxes and household expenses to secure their financial future.

But Mr. Kays is a chartered financial analyst. He started his Atlanta-based investment-management business 25 years ago and now directs about $140 million of his clients' wealth. Over the years, he has seen just about everything the financial markets can dish out. It's his job to strategize with clients and counsel them.

So how do Mr. Kays and his wife, Lisa, oversee their own financial responsibilities, which include caring for six children ranging in age from six to 22?

With clear priorities, patience, and long-term plans that center around stocks, savings, controlling expenses, avoiding debt, and sharing with those less fortunate.

'I still stay primarily equity-oriented,' says Mr. Kays. 'We save a pretty high percentage of our income that has approached 20%; charitable giving is important, and we do things to keep our expenses low.'

Not everyone can achieve such a financial balance, of course, and indeed, the Kays family came to it the hard way. 'I don't like financial pressure,' he says. 'I don't ever want to put myself under financial pressure. I've been there before and it's a horrible feeling.'

Accordingly, Mr. Kays keeps his money matters simple. He wants to be financially independent by age 65, which is why almost all of his retirement portfolio is given to individual stocks, stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, and alternative, hedge-fund-like investments.

'Money that we've got in equity-type investments is longer-term money,' he says. 'I still have a tremendous amount of confidence that over a long period of time the stock market is going to give you the highest return.'
Investment Mix

Mr. Kays stakes his financial success alongside his clients, investing on the domestic side in T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund and several ETFs including iShares Morningstar Mid Growth Index, iShares Morningstar Small Value Index, Vanguard Growth and Vanguard Small Cap Growth. Internationally, he favors the Scout International Fund, Schwab Fundamental International Large Company Index fund and Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF.

The individual stocks Mr. Kays owns are chosen on a company-by-company basis, while the mutual funds, ETFs and alternative funds diversify risk and provide asset allocation.

Mr. Kays isn't a market timer, but he says that if the broad market trades in a wide range for years to come as he believes, opportunistic investors stand a better chance of riding the market's highs and steering clear of its lows.

'It's not just a static allocation; you need to be more tactical,' he says. 'Alternative investments make a lot of sense in this type of trading range market.' For Mr. Kays, such approaches in a mutual-fund format include Absolute Strategies Fund and Aston/MD Sass Enhanced Equity Fund.

Bonds aren't a major part of the Kays family recipe. 'I feel like I'm still too young, too far away from retirement, to make a long-term commitment to fixed income, especially at current interest rates,' Mr. Kays says. 'You should have anywhere from five to 10 years' worth of income needs in fixed income. I don't intend to withdraw money from the portfolio over five or 10 years, so there's no reason to have fixed income at this point.'

Mr. Kays also is opportunistic when it comes to personal expenses -- meaning he's a bargain hunter. 'I don't want to say I'm cheap,' he says, 'but for big purchases I have a hard time paying retail.'

He bought a house in the northern Atlanta suburbs for 20% under asking by waiting 18 months until the developer didn't have a better offer. He's refinanced his mortgage three times and now has a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4 3/8%.

That's the family's only debt outstanding. He owns two Chrysler minivans -- paid for in cash -- and traded in the last one after 170,000 miles. That same frugality goes for computers and other office equipment.

'If we don't have the cash, we don't buy it,' Mr. Kays says. 'Early in our marriage, we made some mistakes that put us under financial pressure. I cannot tell you how good it felt to get free of debt. That's one reason we live the way we do. I have no problem spending money if we have the money to spend, but I don't want to borrow to spend it.'
Strong Values

At home, the family talks openly about saving, investing and giving. A set amount of household income is always donated to charity. Mr. Kays and his wife try to instill a strong sense of the value of a dollar and how easily wealth can slip away. His children's investments in stocks suffered in the market's meltdown, and Mr. Kays says he sees the losses as a valuable lesson for the children that will keep them from taking excessive risks with money later.

The couple mostly see eye-to-eye about finances. 'We're both pretty thrifty,' he says. 'If my wife tells me she spent something, I never question it because I know it was necessary.'

Adds Mr. Kays: 'We have a nice house; we have nice cars, but beyond that we don't live an extravagant lifestyle. For me, a mid-life crisis is a red minivan.'