How much should I invest, and in what areas, to reach my long-term financial goals?
Even though you may believe your dollars are not stretching far enough to cover current expenses, you should set realistic goals, review some very basic investment “truths,” and understand what you need invest to fund your future plans.
Here are a few basic investment points to remember:
• Establishing specific goals is a key step for your investment picture. If you don’t know where you want to go, you will never be able to get there. So start with an “investment” of a little time, to consider where you want to be in your financial future.
• Inflation will always be with us. If you don’t invest your money, not just tuck it away safely, the effects of inflation may decimate your purchasing power. While inflation is quite low at the time being, it is important to not underestimate the long-term effects of a decrease in purchasing power.
• Investing a fixed amount at fixed intervals—an approach called dollar cost averaging—lets you accumulate shares over the long term, rather than investing varying amounts at different times. While this approach cannot assure a profit or protect against a loss, it can help you buy more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high. Dollar cost averaging means you can avoid the risk of making most—or all—of your investments at exactly the wrong time. One option is to make regular purchases, a more reliable approach than trying to guess the best time for investing (commonly referred to as “timing the market”). And, the key to making regular purchases is to allocate dollars to your investment program no matter what the market seems to be doing. If you commit to a regular investment program, you will be more likely to find an easier path to your financial goals.
• Diversification protects against (but will not eliminate) risk. Having more than one type of investment in your portfolio is the one way to help lower risk without sacrificing returns. While there is no way to eliminate risk entirely, once you move out of traditional “safe” investments, diversification can provide you with the assurance that if your investments in one area are not faring well, other areas may be picking up the slack. Overall, the goal is still to move closer to your financial goals, even if all of your individual investments are not contributing equally to that movement.
• Competent professional advice always moves you further toward your goals, rather than just going at it alone. The advice of your financial professional can help you off to a solid start and keep you on track toward reaching a secure financial future. For a detailed discussion about your investment picture, contact our office at the information below and we will be happy to talk with you.
Simonet Financial Group, LLC
[email protected]
Phone: (512) 296-8962
