Key Points

• The article offers 10 tips for individuals to improve their financial plan on their own.
• The first tip is to create a budget and track spending to identify areas where expenses can be reduced or eliminated.
• The second tip is to pay off high-interest debt, such as credit card debt, as quickly as possible.
• The third tip is to establish an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses and avoid going into debt.
• The fourth tip is to save for retirement by contributing to a 401(k), IRA, or other retirement account.
• The fifth tip is to review and adjust investment portfolios to ensure they are aligned with individual financial goals and risk tolerance.
• The sixth tip is to consider working with a financial advisor who can provide guidance and accountability in achieving financial goals.

Introduction

When it comes to investing and financial planning, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach or a silver bullet that solves all problems. However, there are some important tips and strategies that can help you improve your ability to reach your financial goals regardless of your earning ability or risk tolerance. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top ten ways to improve your how you manage your investments. From diversifying your portfolio to rebalancing regularly, these tips will help you make the most of your investments and reach your financial goals.

Review your goals

It’s important to regularly review your financial goals to make sure you are still on track. Here’s how you should start: 

1. Make sure your goals are realistic and feasible. If they seem out of reach, you may need to adjust them.

2. Take into account any changes in your life that could impact your ability to reach your goals. For example, having a child may mean you need to save more for college costs, having to financially support aging parents, etc.

3. Re-evaluate your investment strategy periodically to make sure it aligns with your current goals. For instance, if you’re saving for retirement, you may want to shift more of your investments into stocks or mutual funds over time.

Consider saving more money

Saving money is one of the most important aspects of investing and, as you probably could guess, the more you save, the better. By saving more money, you can invest more money and ultimately make more money in the stock market which makes every goal easier.

The hard part is, in order to save more, you have to spend less which is hard. Luckily, there are a few options you can explore to make saving easier.

These options include: 

1) Invest in a 401k or IRA: By investing in a 401k or IRA, you can save money on taxes. This will allow you to have more money to invest.

2) Cut back on expenses: One of the best ways to save money is to simply cut back on your expenses. Find areas where you can save money and make cuts accordingly.

4) Automate your savings: You can set up your bank account so that a certain percentage of your income is automatically transferred into savings. This will help you reach your savings goal every month, more quickly.

5) Invest in yourself: Early in your career, the best investment you can make is in yourself. By taking courses and learning new skills, you can increase your earning potential and ultimately save more money.

Review your asset allocation and rebalance as needed

It’s important to regularly review your asset allocation and rebalance as needed to ensure that your portfolio is aligned with your investment goals.

When reviewing your asset allocation, consider factors such as your investment time horizon and risk tolerance. You may need to rebalance your portfolio if there have been changes in your circumstances or if market conditions have changed.

Rebalancing can be done by selling some of your assets that have increased in value and using the proceeds to buy more of other assets that have become relatively cheaper. This process helps to maintain the desired level of risk in your portfolio.

If you’re not sure how to rebalance your portfolio, seek professional advice from a financial advisor.

Stay disciplined with your plan

When it comes to investing, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. However, there are certain best practices that all investors should follow in order to improve their chances of success. One of the most important things to do is to stay disciplined with your investment plan.

This means sticking to your goals and not letting emotions get in the way of your decision-making. When markets are down, it can be tempting to sell off your investments in order to avoid further losses. However, if you sell during a market downturn, you could miss out on the rebound when prices start to recover.

Similarly, it’s important not to get too carried away when markets are doing well. It’s easy to become overextended and take on more risk than you can handle when prices are rising. This can lead to big losses down the road if the market turns south.

The key is to stay focused on your long-term goals and stick to your chosen strategy. This may mean making some tough decisions at times, but it will pay off in the end if you stick with it.

Review your insurance coverage

Before making any changes to your investment plan, it’s important to review your insurance coverage. Make sure you have enough life insurance to cover your family’s needs in the event of your death and disability insurance to ensure your family will be okay if you become disabled.

You should also review your health insurance coverage and make sure you are adequately insured against illness or injury. If you’re not happy with your current coverage, shop around for a new policy that better meets your needs.

Consider using dollar-cost averaging

If you want to improve your investment plan, one thing you can do is start using dollar-cost averaging.

Dollar-cost averaging is an investing technique where you invest a fixed sum of money into a security or securities at fixed intervals. For example, let’s say you have $1,000 that you want to invest in a stock. You could choose to invest $250 in the stock every month for four months.

The benefit of dollar-cost averaging is that it takes the emotion out of investing. When you invest a fixed sum of money at fixed intervals, you’re buying more shares when the price is low and fewer shares when the price is high. Over time, this technique can help increase your chances of making money on your investment by helping you stay more disciplined knowing that no matter what, you’re buying the same amount every month. 

Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll make money by using dollar-cost averaging. But if you’re serious about improving your investment plan, it’s worth considering this strategy.

Review your retirement plan

There are some general tips that can help everyone improve and review their retirement plan more systematically and make sure that it is on track. The schtick with all goals is to not just understand your plan but to make your process systematic.

One of the first things to do is to take a close look at your asset allocation. This is the mix of different types of investments in your portfolio, such as stocks, bonds, and cash. The right asset allocation for you will depend on factors such as your age, risk tolerance, and investment goals.

Once you have reviewed your asset allocation, it is important to rebalance your portfolio periodically. This simply means making sure that your investments are still in line with your original targets. For example, if you have a target allocation of 60% stocks and 40% bonds, but the stock market has been doing well and your portfolio is now 70% stocks and 30% bonds, you may want to sell some of your stock holdings and reinvest in bonds.

Another key part of reviewing your retirement plan is to make sure that you are taking advantage of all available tax breaks. This includes contributing to a 401(k) or IRA if possible, as these accounts offer significant tax advantages. If you are self-employed, there are also several retirement plans available that can provide substantial tax benefits.

Finally, it is also important to regularly monitor your investment performance and expenses.

Stay the course

It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations of the stock market. But if you’re investing for the long term, it’s important to stay focused on your goals and not let yourself be swayed by short-term changes. By staying the course, you increase your chances of achieving your investment goals.

Of course, there will be times when it makes sense to make changes to your investment plan. If your goals or circumstances change, you may need to adjust your investments accordingly. But as long as your overall strategy is still on track, don’t let small bumps in the road derail you from staying the course.

Have an emergency fund

An emergency fund is an important part of any investment plan. It provides a cushion in case of unexpected expenses or income fluctuations.

A good rule of thumb is to have enough money saved to cover three to six months of your minimum living expenses (insurance, housing, utilities, medical expenses, food, etc). This will give you time to find another job or make other adjustments if you experience a financial setback.

There are a few different options for where to keep your emergency fund. A savings account is a safe and easy option, but you may get a better return on your investment if you choose a short-term bond fund or money market account.

Whatever option you choose, be sure to keep your emergency fund in a separate account from your other investments. This will help you avoid tapping into it for non-emergency purposes.

Conclusion

There are a lot of different ways to improve your investment plan, but these 10 are some of the most important. If you can implement even just a few of these tips, you should see a significant improvement in your results. Of course, every situation is different, so be sure to tailor your approach to fit your own needs and goals. If this seems confusing to you, contact us and we’re happy to answer any questions you have at no cost. We’re here to help!