62% of Americans own stock, according to a Gallup poll. So are you making the most of your investments?
Fidelity Investments VP and financial consultant Ryan Viktorin, CFP, joins Wealth! to discuss her top tips for beginner investors.
“I think it’s really important to just zoom out and create a framework for yourself,” Viktorin says. The first step in creating this framework is to narrow down ‘the who, the what, the when.'” Investors should think about whether they’re investing for themselves or for their family, as well as if they’re planning for any milestones like buying a home or retiring.
Next, they should figure out what kind of investor they are and research the investments that work best for their goals.
“It really just depends on what that goal is and then how you feel comfortable with your own knowledge base and whether or not you really want to pick stocks yourself, or you want to go with funds that represent the stocks that you’re kind of interested in,” she explains.
Viktorin acknowledges how much emotions can be tied to money, noting that it can drive a lot of fear.
“When you start to feel a little bit anxious about it, or even if you’re just fearful to even get started in this process, just start to think about, ‘okay, is what this investment is doing or either is going to do, I think, before I buy it, is it supporting that goal that I have?'” she says.
Even in periods of market volatility, she encourages investors to take a breath and reevaluate whether the investments still make sense for their goals in the longer term.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!
This post was written by Melanie Riehl
