You've been putting off reviewing your investment portfolio for months, maybe even years. You know you should, but you keep telling yourself that the market will turn around soon and you'll be able to recoup your losses. Well, it's time to face facts: if you don't get serious about your investments now, you may be digging yourself into a financial hole that time will only make it more difficulty to dig yourself out of.
1. Decide what you have
The first step in any investment strategy is to know what you have. You need to review your portfolio, and determine whether it matches your goals and needs. If not, now is the time to make changes so that it does.
If you're currently invested in high-quality securities and have decided on a diversified approach that's right for your level of risk tolerance, then congratulations—you've taken care of yourself!
However, if you're not sure where you stand or think your portfolio could use an overhaul, don't worry - P.R. Curtman Investments uses an established process to discover your current situation and develop an investment strategy tailored to your specific goals and objectives.
The first step is to take a close look at your holdings and see what you've got. You might be surprised to find that the investments you thought would help you achieve your goals are actually holding you back.
2. Decide what you need
In order to make the best decisions about your investments, you'll need to consider what your needs are. Reviewing your needs at least once a year can help keep them fresh in your mind and ensure they're aligned with any changes in your life stage or goals.
Your investment portfolio should be made up of quality investments based on how well each asset class performs over time, not just as an immediate reaction to market fluctuations. This means that even if you don't want to sell anything right now—or maybe ever—it's still important for you to be able to remove funds from one asset class and put them into another when necessary.
3. Decide who you trust
So, who do you trust? As with most questions in life, the answer is simple: yourself. There are several ways to go about it and a lot of information online to help out on your journey, but at the end of the day, your best bet is to find someone whose advice feels right for you and work with them on developing a portfolio strategy or when making investment decisions.
The bottom line is that having an investment advisor shouldn't be scary—it should be a relief! You wouldn't drive without knowing where you're headed or checking under the hood every once in awhile; why would you invest without a sense of direction or putting together a strategy?
Conclusion
Take aways:
1. Interview investment advisors till you find someone who you feel right about. Ask them how their fees are structured - are they a fiduciary where they put your interests first or do they make commissions from selling you investments for you portfolio?
2. Schedule a review of your portfolio. Your advisor should ask you questions about your financial goals and your tolerance for risk.
3. Work with your advisor on an investment strategy. Your strategy should be designed with market volatility in mind and it should have quality investments that work towards helping meet your portfolio objectives. If your advisor doesn't have the heart of a teacher and can't explain some basics about your portfolio strategy, it might be worth interviewing a different advisor.
4. You should review your portfolio with your advisor at least once a year.
So, what is your investment strategy? If you’re not sure, now is the time to take a closer look at your portfolio and make sure it matches up with your goals and needs. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of investing in cryptocurrency or trendy stocks, but if those investments don’t fit into your overall plan for retirement income—or just aren’t right for you—they could wind up hurting more than helping.