Investing: What to Focus On

Don’t Watch the Market (and 5 Other Investing Tips)

Think Long-Term Investing

Investing is a way to put money into one or more types of investment vehicles and have it work for you while you are doing other things – like living your life. Ideally, that money grows over time, so that when you come back to it, it’s substantially larger than it was when you started investing. The best investment plan is one that minimizes your costs and maximizes your profit.

Mind Your Own Business...

In investing, you need to think of yourself as a business owner. Your investments make up your own business, and that business generates cash flow. In order to grow your business, you will need commitment, patience, and a vision of your goals. A successful business does not take off overnight, but over time it really can perform.

...Not the Market!

The financial markets will, by their very nature, fluctuate up and down. Much like human emotions, markets can be volatile, unstable, and unpredictable. At One Day In July, our financial advisors advocate keeping your eyes away from the markets and back on your life. We educate our clients to look at the big picture of investing, not the rapid day-to-day storms of financial news, stock tickers, or market-gazing.

Focus on What You Can Control

If you can’t control the markets, what can you control?

You can control cost. John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, famously said, “In investing, you get what you don’t pay for.” He meant simply that investors often pay so much in fees that the cost of their investment over time makes them lose money, rather than earn.

You can help control the level of risk you take on, through asset allocation and diversification of your portfolio. You can control your emotions. Emotions do not do great things for investors, and it helps to have an objective financial advisor who has your best interests in mind.

You can control your savings. How much and how often you save is as important as how much your investments earn.

At One Day In July, we believe that it’s important to focus on the right things – the part of our financial lives that we can control and positively impact – not obsess over the things we can’t.

Fees Matter

Every dollar you don’t pay to an active manager, you keep (and hopefully invest). If you are paying 1% or more of your assets under management to your financial advisor, we believe you are paying too much. It’s that simple.