Investing can be tricky. Here at Accureta Wealth, we work at growing investments day in and day out as trusted independent investment advisors. We’ve picked a range of common mistakes even seasoned investors make on occasion, and we would like to share some of these with you. Throughout this blog, be sure to take notes and follow along week by week. Without further ado, here’s mistake number one: not having an investment plan.

Not Having an Investment Plan

When people start to invest, it’s oftentimes for the ubiquitous reason of “making money”. That is a fine goal, but specifics are beneficial in helping you both stay on task and make wiser investments. Before starting your investments you need to look at some basic questions:

Why do you want it?

The “why” question is simply for you and to help you solidify an idea of the importance of the investments. Focusing on the importance will help you dictate the amount of acceptable risk while looking through potential investments.

How much do you want to earn?

This is the end goal. It should of course reflect your why, and also be reasonable. Many goals aim a little high so that changes in the market can be compensated for.

When do you want it by?

We all wish we could simply have any amount of money at any time. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible. Your time goal for your investment earnings should be reasonable and reflected by reasonably expected rates of growth. We know that investments fluctuate over time, but having a solid timeline, with benchmarks to accomplish them, can help ensure you’re making wise decisions and give you a good idea of your long-term investment potential and limitations.

How are you going to earn it?

When building a draft of your portfolio, make sure that you are considering diversification, risk, and asset allocation. You want to have your investments spread across different stocks, bonds, and equities to maintain investment stabilities. On top of this, make sure to do your research to ensure that you are getting into appropriate levels of risk with each individual investment. It can be time consuming but it pays off down the line.

If you’d like assistance putting together your investment portfolio, Accureta Wealth provides independent investment advisors that exceeds at creating custom tailored investment portfolios to meet the needs of your unique situation and goals.