Long Term Planning

Getting started

You will start your investment portfolio with standard bank accounts like your checking account and savings accounts. These accounts are completely and immediately liquid and risk free. But, the return is low and taxable, making your earnings even lower.

So, at some point you will totally find yourself ready to move on to making your money perform better for you and there certainly are ways to achieve this. But these deposit accounts are a place to amass emergency funds. Reading the following articles linked to on this page, we assume you have an understanding about bank accounts. If not, review the section in our news article main page that showcases this topic in full. You will also want to brush up on the CDs and money market accounts section as well before you go on to read any of the following links on this page.

Investments in stocks and bonds will not take place your banking accounts. Checking accounts are still the best place for your weekly and monthly expenses, savings accounts for money you will not have to spend for 2-6 months, and CDs for amounts of $500 or more that you can afford to lock up for longer terms (6 months to 3 years). All those deposits at a bank are insured up to $100,000. As you move into mutual funds, stocks, and bonds, you will be moving on to a different world of investing – one where your money will yield a much higher return (usually) and also a different level of risk.

It is essential that you understand your level of risk when it comes to investing in your financial future. Only you can say how much investment risk you take before you begin to lose sleep or get into financial trouble. Your risk level depends partly on your personality and partly on the rest of your financial situation. Do you have a cushion top land on if you get too aggressive?

The following links will take to our articles regarding different ways to invest in you long term financial future:

Money market mutual funds

Bonds

Stocks

Mutual Funds

Be sure to read the above articles as they will completely explain what each topic is and how you can use it to enhance your financial portfolio.

Keep in mind:

Your style and your goals are not going to be the same as the next guy’s. Think about your goals and match your investments to them. You want to be certain that your time frame of your goals match the time frame of the investments you are making. Take a look at your investments. Do you have a variety of stocks, bonds and mutual funds or do all of these have the same if not similar investment style? Owning treasury bonds, high yield bonds, and corporate bonds with varying maturities is less risky than owning all treasury bonds.

If your portfolio needs some work, make these needed changes. If it looks as though this is too hard or you are in over your head when it comes to learning about financial details, there are plenty of worthy professionals out there that can help you. Just be sure that you review your portfolio on a regular basis.

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