Investing is for everyone. ‘When’, ‘Why’, ‘How’ and ‘How Much’ will vary depending on each one of our circumstances. What is certain however is that every one of us are investors.

Philosophically, it extends past monetary considerations and into our everyday actions and lives. We are always investing in ourselves, be it in our health, personal growth, job prospects or in our family or those around us. It all takes time and effort.
There may or may not be a written Goal or Objective. This may not matter for now. What matters is our pursuit of something greater - driving and motivating us forward.
As a Financial Planner, I am always exposed to both sides of the coin – both positive and negative, when it comes to investing.
These are some of the Key learnings over the years:
uNDERSTAND - Retirement iNVESTING

Know what you are investing for, “Your Goal”. A Goal according to the Cambridge dictionary is an aim or purpose. For most us employed, one Goal that we may all have in common is to retire. What needs answering then is by what age and how much.
Other common goals I come across are “I want to be debt free” and the finishing touch to this goal requires a target date to achieve this. Is this an investment discussion? You may wonder for a moment why do I include such a goal under the topic of Investing. Firstly, it is to assist with the clarification of how to approach the topic of a Goal and secondly there are investing strategies that may be incorporated to simultaneously enhance the efforts of debt repayment beyond the common strategies of paying more dollars, more often into your loan.
cash flow surplus!

Typically, there may be more than one Goal that needs to be maximised or addressed. You may need to target them separately or together in different orders of priority.
Have a Plan of Action! Documenting and monitoring its success may provide transparency to your efforts as you can easily see when you achieve milestones along the way.
TIP - Surplus cash flow + Available Investable Funds = Wealth Booster
Note: surplus cash flow may have other valuable benefits like targeting debt repayments etc besides investing.
If you are a Non Retiree Investor with surplus cash flow. One benefit to adding Surplus cash flow to your investment portfolio is through dollar cost averaging. The following link is from Vanguard articulating this benefit: https://www.vanguard.com.au/personal/education-centre/en/insights-article/a-new-dawn-for-dollar-cost-averaging
If you are a Retiree Investor with Surplus cash flow. You may not need to take on too much investment risk overall or you may end up just doing this to enhance your Legacy or Philanthropy work.
Risks with investing

To Know is to Understand’. With understanding comes appreciation and engagement. All forms of investing – yes, even cash, comes with a level of risk and trade off.
The following link is from Moneysmart articulating these discussions:
Ready to invest

Consider if constructing a diversified portfolio is best for you. Next steps - what assets to include in this diversification. It is commonly understood that when diversification is embraced it may help to potentially enhance return, more importantly within acceptable risk metrics. The following link is from Moneysmart articulating the concept of diversification:
simple or complex investments

Simple
This may involve a broadly diversified investment solution that has a wide range of investment classes included, managed by one fund manager.
Complex
This may involve investing in direct property, direct shares, specialist fund managers or more unique and sophisticated investments. You may seek access to an investment platform with individual taxation reconciliation and centralised monitoring and transaction capability. You may seek to track and understand the individual manger / asset performance and selection and how they serve to assist in your investment goals.
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invested - is performance being monitored

Did you know?
73.62% of Australian Equity General funds (managed Funds) underperformed the
S&P/ASX 200 (the Australian share market index of 200 top shares) over a 5-year period as at 30 June 22. The Underperformance decreases as the term is lower than 5 years and increases beyond 5 years. It adds merit to the important need for undertaking ongoing investment portfolio reviews.
The following Link is from SPIVA® - measuring actively managed funds against their relevant index benchmarks worldwide.
If you don’t have managed funds and instead have exposure to Direct shares, property, or other assets the finance industry produces data on benchmark performance for relative investments. As an example, if you have direct Australian Shares, a common useful benchmark is the ASX 200/300.
Regular Goals monitoring - are they happening?

A great investment outcome is dependent on a good understanding of your goals, and a regular review of your position against these goals.
Do you work with a Financial Planner on the Gold Coast - Are your investment goals and options being regularly monitored to give maximum effect?
Do you need a second opinion with your current investing journey - maybe you are approaching retirement or retired or are focussed on wealth creation? Not sure if you have got the best investments and strategy for your situation? Enquire about my service and fixed fee advice options a Financial Advisor on the Gold Coast.
Chris D'souza
The information posted is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial product advice. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided and the nature of the relevant financial product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or other offer document prior to making a decision.
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