Developing Your Personal "Financial Freedom"
One of my passions in life is helping others create a solid foundation for developing an individual financial legacy for themselves and their families. Although this is basic information, it is often ignored by potential investors when building personal wealth. I have literally traveled around the world to speak with our U.S. military personnel so they will have the essential information needed to build their personal financial futures. I lecture about the vital financial advice presented in my bestselling book Operation Financial Freedom; important issues that deal with goal setting to establishing appropriate strategies to build wealth. What "wealth" means is different for everyone, and personal goals must guide your individual objectives. Every one of us should examine our personal goals now and then to determine whether we are on the right track.
Every few weeks, we meet people from all over the country who come to our PremiereTrade® headquarters to attend our specialized FOREX training classes. Each person has their own short- and long-term financial targets that they are striving to attain. The reason they travel to these classes is to acquire the education they need to make critical decisions pertaining to their financial lives. That's what I constantly recommend to everyone - get the information needed that will help you find a clearer path toward personal financial freedom.
All investments are guided by a number of personal questions that you will need to take into consideration before making any critical financial decisions. You need to determine whether you should be more conservative or more aggressive in your investments based on a number of factors; current stock market activity, your age and your needs and desires. For instance, if you are in your 30s, you have a lot of time before a traditional retirement to invest so you can afford to be a lot more aggressive than if you were in your 50s. But if you're anxious to retire early, you'll have to make portfolio adjustments accordingly. As you can see, your investment structure is highly personal and depends totally on your current needs, goals and desires.
Americans are heavily involved in mutual funds -- more so than any other investment vehicle. Many of us are invested in 401(k) plans through our jobs; these plans are structured around mutual fund investments, which are administered by professional money managers who invest in stocks, bonds, options, money market instruments or other securities and can be highly diversified. Certainly there are thousands of mutual fund opportunities available on the market to fit any investment desire and style. Remember, you need to occasionally rebalance your 401(k) investments to represent what is happening in the stock market; you can be very aggressive or extremely conservative. Make your adjustments on a regular basis, as required.
I always tell my military audiences that diversification is the key; it's a simple and age-old premise in investing but one that is commonly neglected. As much as you can, develop your portfolio with as many investment products as possible. You may want to include stocks, FOREX, mutual funds, real estate or interest rate instruments like bonds. Some people get involved in precious metals or commodities; again it all depends on your interests and your financial ability.
And don't forget about creating an appropriate tax strategy that makes sense to your financial lifestyle. You really need to contact a tax professional and get the proper advice on this topic. Just make sure you completely understand your tax obligations and, specifically, what you can and can't do to reduce those obligations. And once you actually achieve your own financial freedom, your job still isn't over; you'll need to understand how to keep and grow your money and learn how to effectively use your assets to help you and your family in the future.
Happy Investing!
Originally published in the Outspoken e-newsletter.