The Importance of Setting Investment Goals

Almost anyone can start investing nowadays, and they can do so without the guidance of a financial advisor, a stock broker, or any guidance at all. While novices are urged to start small and do their due diligence and research prior to getting involved with investments, there is a reason why some people choose to jump right in. The stock market is a big draw for novice investors looking for a big payday, and sometimes they do hit big. However, without a plan and investment goals, that one-time payout usually ends up being a case of beginner’s luck. The importance of setting investment goals should not be lost on anyone who will be building a portfolio of investments.

Setting a Healthy Financial Standard

There are various ways to make money and earn an income, with the majority of working age individuals choosing to seek out gainful employment. When you have a relatively steady income, you can estimate your expenses, and then live in a manner that allows you to stay within your means. Investing is one way of “beefing up” your finances, so to speak. If done properly, your investment portfolio will represent one of your assets that can be leveraged, liquidated, or transferred in the event that you need financial relief. In order to set a healthy financial standard, you have to look toward developing multiple channels of income.

Knowing What’s Going Out Versus Coming In

During the initial phase of investing, there will definitely be more money coming out of your bank account than going in. It doesn’t matter if you are investing $50 or $1,000 a month, as all investing plans should be developed with the investor’s budget in mind. Using the best Robo advisors will allow you to easily track the total amount you have invested and compare it against current total profits. Wealth Simple offers tools designed to help investors meet their personalised investment goals. Make your investments while operating in autopilot mode with Wealth Simple and you can always keep track of your investments made versus profits earned.

Having the Ability to See Consistent Returns

One thing that new investors need to learn quickly, is the term volatile. This single word perfectly sums up the stock, forex, and cryptocurrency markets perfectly, as anything and everything can happen. What all traders want, in spite of the volatility of the markets, are consistent returns. You can lose money on one trade, but quickly make up for it and then some on your next investment. Some investments will promise small, yet regular returns that can slowly bolster your portfolio. When you have investment goals, it is easier to see the act of investing as a long-term and large-scale plan as opposed to overanalysing individual trades.

Allocating Your Free Time

When you have an investment plan, you start to think about structure, resources, and time. While you are learning about investing and getting your first few trades underway, it’s okay to be as slow, careful, and methodical as necessary. Soon though, the amount of time you spend trading has to match up with the profits you are earning. Consider your work schedule and how it coincides with your salary. If you get hired at a set salary, then you would expect to make more money in the form of raises, bonuses, and other increases over time. So, someone hired in a position for $50,000 annually today would not usually expect or be okay with earning $35,000 annually, in a decade. The time that you spend investing works in the same manner.

Changing Priorities and Investment Goals

It is not uncommon to have set investment goals change. A change in income would definitely be reflected in your investment goals, while buying a home, getting married, or enrolling in college would also cause a change in your priorities as well as your investment goals. Don’t think that whatever you plan has to remain set in stone. It is actually a great thing to evaluate what your investment goals are from time to time, as the market and economy are going to change frequently, too.

Starting from Where You Currently Are

Some people are raised in families where everyone starts investing from the time that they are quite young. Parents may purchase stocks and bonds for their minor children, turning them over when they mature. As such, there are also many novice investors who have to learn everything themselves. Don’t worry much about where you are currently. Motivated investors can and do learn very fast. In addition, you don’t have to learn about investing on your own if you are also making use of all available resources.

Learning More as You Hit Your Investment Benchmarks

Investors who develop their portfolios with a goal in mind are simply more likely to hit their benchmarks. So, your ultimate goal might be to amass an investment portfolio worth $1 million by the time you retire. Logically, you will have several benchmarks to meet before you can even think about hitting that goal. The first benchmark may be $1,000, or $10,000 or some other relatively low amount. If it takes a very long time to reach those first critical benchmarks, then you will have to shift your approach in order to meet that end goal.

Guaranteeing You Won’t Take a Financial Loss

Setting investment goals helps you to avoid taking lasting financial losses. The fact of the matter is that all investors take losses. It’s just part of the nature of all the various trading and investing markets. Your losses might get offset by the close of the day, or you could be looking at making up that loss for months. Either way, if you have an investment goal, you will be focused on creating strategies to recoup your losses and not be caught up on one potentially dangerous plan of action.

Being Methodical About Making Investments

A good investor will always move methodically, which is what you can look forward to as you develop your investment goals. If an investment looks strong, you might purchase shares over the course of a few days, until you have a healthy amount. When selling, you will probably offload your shares in no particular rush. Biding your time might even help you to gain more profits than expected.

Determining What It Means to Take Calculated Risks

While slow and steady is said to always win the race, there are times when investors can benefit from the chaos that sometimes develops here. When you get an alert that a stock is way up or way down, you will probably pause for only a second before making up your mind and going for it. There are times when a risky move is your best course of action. With more experience in the stock market, you will come to know what those moves are and when you should be making them.

Remaining Calm During Market Shifts

Throughout a single day, prices are going to go up and down, sometimes quite sharply. The key to making good investments and creating intelligent investment goals is holding tight when the market shifts. Realise that major shifts in the markets ultimately lead to corrections in the polar opposite direction. So, if an investment you have just made goes way down unexpectedly, you have to remain calm until prices correct themselves. You have to know it will happen, even if the signs don’t seem to be there presently.

Gaining Confidence in Your Ability to Pick Profitable Investments

As you learn, trade, and build up your portfolio, you will feel much better about each subsequent decision. There won’t be that nagging feeling that you have done something wrong, and you won’t second guess yourself even if an investment does not turn out how you had hoped. The confidence that is gained during the course of you setting investment goals is going to change your perspective on a lot of things.

Being Sure That It’s Worth It

Whether you keep track of your investments by checking stock prices continuously while the market is open or utilise a suite of automated tools to collate data, what you gain on your investments has to be worth your time. People invest because they want to make money, build up their nest eggs, and have something substantial to rely on in case their primary sources of income dry up. Of course, you may need decades of investing to get there, but you will know along the way if your efforts have been with the reward.

Understanding The Asset You’re Investing In

If you’re making any particular investment a part of your portfolio, then you need to understand how it fits into your goals. This means understanding the characteristics of the investment itself. If you’re investing in a company’s stock, then you need to follow the news around that company and understand how it can affect the worth of said stock. If you’re investing in Forex relationships like the euro to dollar exchange, then you need to know how its volatility impacts your goals and what other investments you might make to mitigate it. Individual trades need to fit within the broader picture of your goals.

You don’t need to be a stock market expert in order to make smart and profitable investments. In fact, you will learn just as much by actively investing than you will by reading predictions or finding out that a stock has skyrocketed after the fact. On the other hand, there are ways for you to learn about investing that don’t require you to blindly wager your hard-earned money. Check out various automated investment tools, including robo advisors and automated trading signals. Eliminate as much risk from your investment plan by taking advantage of all these resources and technologies.