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The answer to this question depends upon what you want to accomplish. Do you want to grow your money, save for retirement, or fund an education? Certain factors will determine which investment vehicles work best depending on the situation. To build your investment plan, it’s important to include guidelines.
Examine what you want to achieve according to your time horizon and risk tolerance. To pinpoint your goals, take a look at where you’re starting. Itemize what you have in assets; include home equity along with any existing savings, investing and retirement accounts. Now identify and subtract your debt and recurring bills. The remainder is your beginning net worth. Once you know what you have to initially work with, you can look at what goals you want to accomplish. You will most likely need to plan long-term goals like your retirement, as well as short-term goals like a down payment on a home. Prioritize your goals and see how you would like to allocate your existing assets to jumpstart your savings goals.
Once you have your goals identified and prioritized, how much time is needed to reach your goal?
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Start your investing as soon as you can. You can amass a greater nest egg with the power of compounding because your dividend and capital gains are used to purchase more shares. While past performance is no indicator of future results, stocks have shown greater growth than any other investment vehicle—and can help you outpace inflation. Diversification can also help keep your money growing. By having investments in a variety of different industries, you can eliminate some risk if one area is under performing.
If you have trouble setting aside money to invest, then pay yourself monthly like you would anyone else. To keep your plans on track consider implementing a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). With a SIP, you can set an amount to be deducted from any account and invested in mutual fund shares—monthly, quarterly or semi-annually. Plus, it doesn’t take much to get started. You can make monthly investments of as little as $50, so there’s no excuse for not saving.
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Take your goals and timeframe to determine which investment products you can utilize. To assist in developing your financial plan sit down with a Financial Advisor who can help you select the proper investment vehicles to reach your goals. Also, in the creation of your plan, review your budget and see if you can find creative ways to increase your monthly investment savings. If you haven’t developed your budget, go to our Budgeting section in Money Management, we can help you get your plan up to speed.
Locate a Financial Advisor at a Branch Near You
Once you’ve got your investment plan in operation, you need to review and track your plan periodically. Many financial institutions have online access to assist their clients in managing their investments. You can also use accounting software programs like Quicken®, QuickBooks®, and Microsoft® Money to review your investments and target areas for improvement. Wachovia also offers OneStop, an online account aggregation service that allows you to view and track your Wachovia and Non-Wachovia accounts from one location. Managing and planning can be easy once you find a system you enjoy working with. Plus, the documents you create may come in handy at tax time.
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Related Links
•How will taxes and inflation affect my savings?
•Net worth worksheet
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