Getting Ready to Invest

Setting Your Objectives and Goals

You can create a list of your various financial goals on your own. Or you can work with an investment professional who has experience in this area, can help assign each a price tag and a time frame, and can then identify the kinds of savings and investing strategies that may be appropriate for meeting your goals. One advantage of working with a professional is that he or she may provide the encouragement you need to move from thinking about your goals to taking steps to achieve them.

While everyone's circumstances are a little bit different, there are essentially four steps to creating a strategy for meeting your goals that will work for just about every person and situation:

1. Identify your most important short- medium-, and long-term financial goals.
2. Estimate how much each of your goals will likely cost.
3. Set up separate savings or investment accounts for each of your major goals.
4. Choose investments suited to meeting each of your goals based on your time frame and your tolerance for risk.