Skip to main content

Put your money to work for a better future (Part 3)


two surfers walking on beach. credit sacha verheij

Part 3: Setting and Reaching Financial Goals

Introduction

Congratulations! Your portfolio is set up, diversified, and growing. But investing isn’t a “set it and forget it” approach. To truly succeed, it’s crucial to monitor your progress, set clear financial goals, and make adjustments as needed. In this section, we’ll cover strategies to help you stay on track and reach your financial milestones.

Goal Setting: Short-Term vs. Long-Term Investment Goals

Investing without clear goals is like taking a road trip without a destination in mind. You need to set both short-term and long-term goals to guide your financial journey.

  • Short-Term Goals: These are typically achieved within 1 to 5 years. Examples include saving for a vacation, a down payment on a house, or building an emergency fund. For short-term goals, consider safer investments like bonds or high-yield savings accounts.

  • Long-Term Goals: These span 5 years or more, such as saving for retirement or funding your child’s education. Long-term goals can benefit from more aggressive investment strategies, like stocks and ETFs, to capitalize on higher potential growth over time.

Setting clear goals will help you decide on the best investment approach and keep you motivated when the market gets rough.

Monitoring Your Investments: Tools and Tips for Tracking Performance

Once your goals are set, it’s time to keep an eye on how your investments are performing. Here are a few tools and tips to make tracking easier:

  • Robo-Advisors and Investment Platforms: Many platforms, like Wealthfront or Betterment, offer portfolio tracking, performance reports, and recommendations.
  • Spreadsheet Trackers: Create a simple spreadsheet with columns for investment name, current value, and performance metrics.
  • Portfolio Management Apps: Use apps like Personal Capital or Mint to track your net worth and overall investment health.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to obsessively check your portfolio—quarterly or semi-annual reviews should suffice unless major life changes or market shifts occur.

Adjusting for Market Changes: When and How to Rebalance Your Portfolio

Market changes and life events can throw your asset allocation out of balance. When this happens, rebalancing your portfolio ensures you’re still aligned with your financial goals and risk tolerance. Here’s when to consider rebalancing:

  • Significant Market Swings: If one asset class (e.g., stocks) has grown disproportionately, consider selling some to buy more of another class (e.g., bonds).
  • Life Changes: If you’ve changed jobs, bought a house, or had a major life event, your risk tolerance and investment horizon may shift.
  • Regular Check-Ins: Aim to review your portfolio annually. Rebalancing doesn’t mean making drastic changes—it’s about keeping your investments in line with your strategy.

Rebalancing can be done manually or automatically using rebalancing features offered by many robo-advisors.

Takeaway:

Setting and reaching your financial goals requires planning, tracking, and adjusting as necessary. With a solid investment strategy, regular monitoring, and timely rebalancing, you can stay on course and ensure your money is working to achieve your dreams. Investing is a journey—so keep your goals in sight, remain adaptable, and watch your wealth grow.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Host a static website on Google Drive (in 5 easy steps)

You need to host a static website but don't have the time, money or resources to set up a web server.  Perhaps you're learning to code or just doing a demo. Here's a way to set up a web site at no cost, in just a few minutes. Step 1. Create a new folder in Google Drive. From Google Drive, Click 'Create', select 'Folder' and enter the folder name. (I chose 'hybrid' for this example, but you can choose anything you want). Step 2. Share the folder. First select the folder you created (displayed in the folder list), then click the sharing icon. In the Sharing Settings popup, go to the 'Who has access' section and click 'Change' The Visibility options pop up will appear. Change the Visibility option to 'Public on the web'.  Although set by default, make sure that 'Access' is set to 'Can view'. Click 'Save'. The folder is now shared. Click D

How to get the BBC iPlayer running when you live outside of the UK

(subtext: Get the World's most famous detective on your favourite browser) The new series of Sherlock has started on the BBC. If you live outside of the UK and you are too impatient to wait for your local TV content provider to host it for you - then fear not !! These simple instructions will get you up and running. In addition to the iPlayer you can access most of the other UK TV channels using the same method. Note: you can use the same method to access content in other countries - such as Hulu in the U.S. How it works:  In simple terms, the BBC iPlayer, like other players, perform a check to determine whether your internet access is originating from the UK.  So the trick is to ensure that your access to the BBC website will originate from the UK. First you are going to use a free piece of open source software that was designed to keep your internet access anonymous. You will add a setting that will ensure that the software makes use of servers in the UK whenever makin

Skip the grunt work: Use AI to turn raw data into Slides (Part 1)

Scenario You've got to create a presentation using data from multiple CSV files. Typically, this means merging files into a single spreadsheet, generating charts, and copying everything into your presentation—an absolute time sink! Let’s fix that. Here’s a free, no-code approach using Google Workspace tools and a sprinkle of automation. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. The Problem Simplified: Multiple CSV files in a consistent format (I used stock data). The goal: Combine into one Spreadsheet for easy analysis and charting. How: Instead of manual copy-pasting, we’ll automate the process using Google Apps Script and Chat-GPT for code generation. What You'll Need: Google Apps account: A free Gmail account will work perfectly. Access to Google Drive , Google Sheets , and Google Slides. Chat-GPT 's free edition for code snippets. Step-by-Step Solution: 1. Collect your data Upload the CSV files to Google Drive. Copy the Drive folder ID. The folder ID is the part of the URL