What are you investing for?

In my work as a financial advisor, people come into me all the time looking for advice on what to do with their money. When I ask them “what are you investing for?”, most of the time I get a shrug of the shoulders and “I want it to grow into more money” as an answer. Knowing what you want your money to do for you is a vital part of the investment process. When looking to invest money, you should ask yourself these questions:

1. What do you want to spend the money on?
2. When do you want to spend it?
3. How much will it cost?
4. How much money do you have now?

By answering these questions, we can work out how much your money needs to grow by for it to do what you want it to do. We can then discuss these outcomes:

1. Can your money realistically achieve those kind of returns?
2. Are you comfortable taking the level of risk that is required to make those returns?
3. Are the returns required realistic?

If the answers to those are no, you will need to either put more money in or revise your goals. You will know this though at the outset and be able to do something about it.

This is why the financial planning process works so well with giving investment advice. Using lifelong cashflows, you can see the future demands on your money and what  you need to do to have enough money at those times.

What is the next big financial outlay that you have? Have you a plan to meet this expense or is it just going to come from your cashflow at the time?

If you have any questions, please contact me directly at steven@bluewaterfp.ie