Empower yourself with the right questions to ask advisors in order to build a comprehensive wealth plan. Gain insights on important considerations and make informed choices to create a solid foundation for your financial success.
Millennials as a generation have had to find unique ways to navigate several volatile economic periods. You may have had to cut back or get a side hustle to make it through some tight spots yourself. While starting out from a disadvantaged market position isn’t ideal, it can illustrate the value of prioritizing your financial stability and building a long-term wealth plan early in life.
As a result of shared experiences with market forces, millennials are increasingly interested in investments as a vehicle for building wealth—although not knowing where to start may be holding you back.
So, let’s get you on the right track. This article will detail how to build an investment plan and why working with a wealth advisor is one of the most effective ways to create a healthy portfolio.
What is a Wealth Plan? Identifying Your Objectives and Goals
Your wealth plan should be comprehensive. It needs to incorporate all aspects of your financial situation from structuring your budget to meeting predefined goals. Factors like your retirement savings, emergency fund, daily expenses, investments, tax preparation, and debt should all be accounted for within your overall financial plan.
Creating a detailed plan ensures that you’re secure in your current financial position and on track to meet your long-term goals. For example, you might start by creating a strategy to pay down accrued high-interest credit card debt by sizing down your expenses for the year. This can be a significant transformation like moving to more affordable housing—or a more menial change like cutting back on nonessential spending.
Conversely, you might see that your current income isn’t enough to manage your liabilities while simultaneously building enough investments and savings to meet your goals. In this case, you’ll perhaps need to look for second streams of income or a higher-paying position.
How Do I Start Saving and Investing?
Having a rainy day fund for unexpected emergencies is the cornerstone of any new wealth plan. A six month cushion of net income set aside is a good start. Once you have met this goal and have excess savings to invest for long term goals, it is a good time to consider how to put that money to work for you. Retirement savings options, taxable investing options and investment in assets like real estate are among a few options for consideration. Diversifying your investment portfolio is an essential component of risk management. Investing is about growing your wealth, but it comes with inherent risks.
You'll spread that risk across your entire portfolio by diversifying your investments among various asset classes and their subsequent sectors or industries. This way, you won’t lose too much from the depreciation of one holding.
Here are some of the most prominent asset classes:
- Stocks give you the option of buying partial ownership of a company. This is a relatively high-risk (yet high-reward) investment.
- Bonds allow you to loan money to either the government or a private company and accrue regular interest payments. The risk for this type of asset is fairly limited.
- Savings accounts, short-term certificates of deposit, and money market accounts are excellent ways to accrue a limited amount of interest on funds that you need to be readily accessible. This is a very safe investment.
- Other investments like real estate investment trusts, mutual funds, hedge funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) contain diversified assets and can help you round out your portfolio.
As a millennial, you have a longer time horizon for your investments. This gives you a significant advantage as you have more time to accrue returns and recover from potential risks. Yet despite this, you should always remain cautious of any investment.
Why Should I Work with a Wealth Advisor?
Your ultimate plan as an investor is to grow your wealth. But the more assets you accrue, the more you have on the line. Just as diversification is a best practice for risk mitigation, so is working with a qualified wealth advisor.
A professional will be able to review your personal finances to optimize your individual cash flow. They’ll also leverage their expertise in the field to maximize your investment returns. Also, a wealth advisor can work with CPAs and legal professionals to set up your estate and reduce your annual taxable income.
An advisor can help keep you consistent with your investments. They serve your best interests, continuously reevaluating your personal financial position and market factors to adjust your wealth plan. Having a professional like a wealth advisor in your corner can streamline your financial journey.
How Do I Find the Right Wealth Advisor to Help Build My Wealth Plan?
Finding a reputable financial partner is the first step to creating a comprehensive wealth plan for many millennials. But how do you pick the right person?
Start by researching the advisors you’re considering and verifying their credentials and work history. You can look online for client reviews and testimonials; their association with professional organizations is another key indicator of their reputability.
When selecting your advisor to match your interests with their expertise, you should also factor in your personal growth goals. Certain advisors may specialize in services like financial planning, investment management, tax planning, or retirement planning.
Finally, you’ll want to select someone who matches your natural communication style to build a strong working relationship.
Creating a Wealth Strategy with the Right Advisor
The bottom line is that investing ASAP is the best way to build wealth in the long term. The goals and timeline of your wealth plan will determine what the most effective strategies will be in your case—so you need personalized advice.
The experienced financial partners at First Bank & Trust, a division of HTLF Bank have been through all the economic ups and downs that you, as a millennial, have weathered. They understand how to shape a plan that helps you overcome the challenges you may face when saving for retirement, a down payment, or any other long-term goal. Reach out to speak with a wealth advisor at First Bank & Trust, a division of HTLF Bank today!
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for investment, legal or tax advice. Products offered through Wealth Advisory Services are not FDIC Insured, are not bank guaranteed and may lose value.