Your goals and investment strategy

Here is an article I posted on the site three or four years ago. If you are not from New Zealand then Sharesies and kiwisaver may be foreign to you. Sharesies is a share trading platform similar to Robin Hood in the US. Your own country may have its own version of Robin Hood and Sharesies.

Kiwisaver is the New Zealand retirement scheme with its own unique incentives to encourage people to contribute. Your own country will have its own scheme with its incentives.

Your goals and investment strategy

The type of investment you place your savings in all depends on your goals and the time frame for achieving your goals. Investing in low interest accounts is not the best strategy for long term goals while investing in growth funds in the share market is not necessarily the best option for achieving your short term goals. Your investment platform has to be tailored to suit your goals. This table will give you a better idea of what I am going on about.

SHORT TERM GOALS

A short term goal is any goal which can be achieved within a year. This may be for a holiday to the West Coast (if you are from another district) or saving up for a car (if it is cheap enough).

MEDIUM TERM GOALS

A medium term goal takes between a year to 5 years to achieve and can be saving for a house deposit or an overseas trip.

LONG TERM GOALS

A long term goal may be saving for your retirement or paying off your home mortgage.

Lets look at some investment options.

SHORT TERM GOALS.

If you already have the money saved up but won’t be needing the money for 3-6 months then investing in fixed term accounts with one of the high street banks is a good option but if you are actually saving up the money then opening up a special account for this is one but not ther only option. I understand that one is able to drip feed money into bonus bonds and it is easily accessible. Investing in Sharesies may be another option worth taking a look at

MEDIUM TERM GOALS

Investing in Sharesies is a good option I believe because your savings has potential for growth while you are saving but another option is to use an everyday savings account to save and once you have saved a certain amount invest in a 90-day investment with a high street bank. 

It should be pointed out that if you are saving for your first house deposit then joining kiwisaver is a must because you are able to withdraw part of your kiwisaver for a first home deposit provided you have been in the kiwisaver scheme for at least three years.

LONG TERM GOALS

Investing in kiwisaver is your best option here irrespective of the date of your birthday because even if the  retirement age of 65 is just around the corner, you can scale back the type of funds you are in from growth/balanced to more conservative however people may have 20 years or more left after they retire so this may not necessarily suit some people. Once one reaches 65, those in kiwisaver are able to withdraw their retirement savings in one hit or whenever they need it. 

There are so many investment options available to you and you do not have to be rich to get involved but you do need to invest to get rich, one investment I am in favour of is Sharesies;

If you have read my previous posts about explaining Sharesies, you can sign up on the link below;

https://sharesies.nz/r/377DFM

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

This article is of the opinion and experience of the writer and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances. Seek independent finance advice if you require it. Feel free to use this article as content for your ebook or website/blog.

 

www.robertastewart.com