| Hi Aris, Welcome to this week's edition of Smart Investing. In the context of movements on financial markets and ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we've decided to revisit the recently released 2024 Vanguard Index Chart this week. With only a few weeks of this year left, it's a great reminder of why staying the course is so important, and why broad diversification is the most effective antidote for markets volatility. Our lead article by Vanguard's Senior Personal Finance Writer, Tony Kaye, looks at the real value of time in the market, showing the financial returns of six major asset classes over 30 years based on an initial $10,000 investment made in 1994. Our second article examines the powerful long-term investing strategy of dollar-cost averaging. We explain what it involves, and how easy it is to automate the process of making regular investments into Vanguard exchange traded funds (ETFs) and managed funds. Lastly, we regularly talk about the importance of diversification. It's all about spreading investment risk. But how does diversification play out in terms of investing? Check out our diversification chart, which shows the best and worst returns from different asset classes. As you can see, asset class returns vary significantly from year to year. | 
