Editor 's note : Ali Velshi is CNN 's chief business correspondent and author of the new book `` Gim me My Money Back : Your Guide to Beating the Financial Crisis , '' published by Sterling & Ross . Below is an excerpt from the book . Ali Velshi says you need to know yourself to know how much risk you want to take with your investments . Now it 's time to meet the star of this book : you . Everything you 've read is just a prelude to the main story : building the investment portfolio that 's going to take you where you want to go . What will it look like ? What will be in it ? It 's completely your call . And to help you make it , I 'm going to walk you through the steps you need to consider before you start to buy assets . We 've seen that there are smart ways to invest in any asset class . And we know that combining asset classes is the best way to ensure a steady return on your investments . Watch Ali explain why this is his favorite chapter » . Further , we 've learned that even volatile assets do well over time ( in fact , they perform best over time ) . So the strategy you follow should be a function of your investment time horizon -- how many years you 'll be contributing to your portfolio before you start taking money out of it -- and your ability to tolerate volatility . After all , you 've got to be comfortable with the decisions you make . If you had money in the market in stocks in fall 2008 and you were able to sleep soundly every night , you probably have a good tolerance for volatility . If you woke up and paced the floor at 3 each morning , you might not . Click here to read the full excerpt .
Ali Velshi 's new book lays out different investment options . A lot of investment options are psychological , he says . Velshi says volatile assets recover better than more stable assets over time .