Questions you should ask before starting

Once you understand the basic principles of investing, it’s time to answer some questions.

Simply by thinking about these questions, you’re on your way to developing your own investing strategy. Need help? Contact an AMP Financial Planner today.

1. What are your investment goals? This is what you intend to do with the money you earn from your investment, including the timeframe in which you want to achieve it. You may have a number of goals with different timeframes. 

2. What sort of investor are you? This refers to your approach to investing eg conservative, aggressive or somewhere in between. It is made up of a combination of your approach towards risk and your time horizon.

3. How do you want to manage your investments? This is one of the first decisions you need to make. Do you want to invest the money yourself or do you want an investment manager or broker to manage it for you?

4. Do you want to invest outside or within superannuation? This is another important investment decision. Generally the investment options available to you are similar regardless of whether you invest within or outside of superannuation. The main difference comes down to tax implications and accessibility of the money you invest.

5. Do you want to diversify your investment? That is, do you want to invest in a number and variety of asset classes or do you want to mainly invest in one asset class?

6. What investment options will suit me? Not all investment options are suitable to everyone. You need to match your investment option to the sort of investor you are.