Setting Investment Goals

Investing can be a great way to grow your wealth over time, but it can also be intimidating. To get the most out of your investments, setting clear and defined goals prior to investing is essential to help you stay focused and achieve success. This article will provide an overview on how to set investment goals, the different types of goals to consider, and the benefits of setting goals.

What Are Investment Goals?

Investment goals are the stated ambitions that you have for your investments. They provide a clear focus for your investment plan, setting out achievable milestones that can be tracked over time. Therefore, even though investment goals can vary drastically, they are all focused around the same idea of helping you meet long-term financial objectives.

When it comes to investing, there are five main types of goals that you should consider:

• Short-term goals: These short-term goals typically involve investing in assets that provide low-risk opportunities, such as bank savings bonds or certificates of deposit (CDs). This type of goal is desirable if you’re looking for quick returns on your investment.
• Medium-term goals: Medium-term goals typically involve investing in stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. These investments usually come with higher risk, but also more potential for higher returns than those from short-term investments.
• Long-term goals: Long-term goals usually involve investments with a greater risk/reward ratio. Examples of these investments include real estate, commodities, and futures contracts. It’s important to be aware that these investments generate more returns over time, but they also come with greater volatility and risk.
• Risk-free goals: Risk-free goals involve investments that have virtually no risk. Examples of these investments include Treasury bills, savings accounts, and CDs.
• Retirement goals: Retirement goals involve investing in assets that will help you achieve your retirement goals, such as stocks and mutual funds. These goals should be long-term investments since they will most likely take several years to generate strong returns.

The Benefits of Setting Investment Goals

Investment goals can help you stay disciplined and focused on achieving your long-term financial objectives. They will also help you identify specific milestones that you need to hit in order to stay on track for achieving your desired outcome. Additionally, setting investment goals will give you more clarity and direction as to where you are going with your investments. Having clear goals will provide you with an easier path for making decisions, as well as a more disciplined review process for measuring progress.

Setting investment goals can also help to reduce your risk by providing you with an exit plan. Having a set of predetermined guidelines regarding when to enter and exit a particular investment is a great way to manage your risk. It will help to protect you against making impulsive decisions, which can often lead to costly mistakes.

Furthermore, setting investment goals can make it easier to track your performance. By putting in place clear goals, you can measure your progress against your desired outcome and adjust your strategy accordingly if necessary. This will help you identify mistakes before they become detrimental to your financial well-being.

How to Set Investment Goals

Setting investment goals can be a daunting process, especially for people who are new to the world of investing. However, if you approach the task in an organized and systematic way, it can be less intimidating and ultimately more beneficial for your financial health. Here are some tips for setting effective investment goals:

1. Align your goals with your values: Before you start making any investments, it’s important to ask yourself why you are investing in the first place. Is it to make money? Is it to contribute to something bigger than yourself? Your investment goals should reflect these answers, so it’s important to have an understanding of what’s important to you and what values you want to define your investing strategy.
2. Set SMART goals: SMART stands for ‘Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.’ When setting investment goals, it’s important to make sure they meet these criteria, or else you risk setting goals that are too vague and unachievable. An example of a SMART goal would be “I will invest $10,000 in a Blue-Chip stock fund by December 31, 2021 to diversify my portfolio.”
3. Evaluate your risk tolerance: Each investment carries a certain amount of risk and it’s important to determine your level of risk tolerance before investing. Are you willing to take on higher levels of risk in pursuit of greater returns? Or do you prefer stable, lower-risk investments? Knowing this information upfront will help you set achievable goals and reduce the chance of costly mistakes.
4. Manage your expectations: It’s important to remember that investing does not guarantee returns, so it’s important to set realistic and attainable goals for yourself. Don’t expect to become a millionaire overnight, and instead focus on achieving incremental gains on a consistent basis. Setting high expectations can lead to disappointment and cause you to become discouraged from investing further.
5. Review and reassess your goals: Once you’ve set your goals, it’s important to track your progress and review them regularly. This will help you determine if you’re making the right decisions and allow you to adjust your strategies if necessary. Additionally, reviewing your goals periodically will give you an opportunity to reevaluate your risk tolerance and make necessary changes as needed.

Conclusion

Setting investment goals can be a great way to stay disciplined and focused when investing. Not only will they help you stay organized when making decisions, but they will also provide a framework for setting achievable objectives and measuring your progress. So next time you’re thinking of investing, take some time to set your investment goals, and you could be on your way to achieving your financial objectives in no time.

• https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/051915/what-are-investment-goals.asp
• https://www.moneycrashers.com/setting-investment-goals-strategy/
• https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/setting-investment-goals-2020-03-03
• https://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/career/goals.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/success/investment-goals/index.html