When was the last time you reviewed your investment goals?
If you are invested or considering doing so, it is vital to know why you are investing. The first step is to be clear about your financial situation and your reasons for investing.
It is important to set your time horizon at the outset, as this will impact on the type of investment you should consider.
What are your investment goals?
You’ll need to give some thought to your investment goals.
It also makes sense to revisit your investment goals at regular intervals to account for any changes to your personal circumstances.
Types of Investment Goals
- Retirement planning or property purchase over the long term (15 years plus).
- Life events, such as university fees, over the medium term (10-15 years).
- Rainy day or lifestyle funds to finance for example an expensive holiday over the medium to shorter term (5-10 years).
What are your investment goals?
Investment strategies should typically include a combination of various fund types in order to obtain a balanced approach to risk and return, while bearing in mind that at some point you may want access to allow for flexibility in your planning.
How long are you thinking of investing for?
If you’re investing with a goal in mind, you’ve probably got a date in mind too.
Investments rise and fall in value, so it’s sensible to use cash savings for your short-term goals and invest for your longer term goals.
Risk Profile
Risk is another word for uncertainty. While all investments carry an element of risk, the amount of risk you take directly effects any potential returns and losses. Generally if there is less risk to your investment, the lower the potential returns you can expect; whereas the higher the risk, the greater potential return, but also the more likely your investment is to fluctuate in value and suffer potential losses.
Diversification
You can’t get rid of risk completely, but you can manage it by investing for the long term in a range of different assets, which is called ‘diversification’.
Diversifying your portfolio with a mix of investments can help protect it from the ups and downs of the market. This is because different types of investments perform well under different economic conditions.
Of course, even well diversified portfolios are at risk from market movements. All investments can fall as well as rise. But a portfolio that is diversified will generally move less and produce more balanced returns.
You can diversify your portfolio in a few different ways:
- Different types of investments.
- Different countries and markets.
- Different types of industries and companies.
How much you invest in each is called ‘asset allocation’.
Next steps
You need to ask yourself what you want to achieve, before you can actually define your investment goals. If you would like to get a sound point of view about what may be right for your unique situation, please contact us.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your needs, and help advise and guide you.
The value of investments and income from them may go down. You may not get back the original amount invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.