One of the most frequent questions I’m asked from people in my personal life is “how should I invest?” Some look for hot tips, answers to general questions of a company/investment product or what advice I would give based on their current situation.
I have already outlined recommendations on finding a financial advisor, but if you are at the point of considering managing your investments on your own or working towards becoming a DIY investor, you’ll be asking yourself: What are the first steps in going out on my own? What will I need to be properly prepared? How will I know when I’ve made the right choice for me?
All of these are questions that even the most experienced DIY investor asks themselves from time to time: am I making the right decision? Regardless of our information, patience or understanding of fundamentals & valuations, we should each frequently justify in the back of our minds what level of risk we’re prepared to take before we invest.
I’ll be posting a four part series on Building an Investment Portfolio. This will include 4 steps that I feel are essential for any investor to understand before venturing into the DIY world of investing. The beauty of these 4 essential steps is that you won’t need any business degree, CFA designation or decades of experience investing in order to understand or apply to your own situation.