Targeted planning and 4 actions to close the gap and get to your investment goals
When we are asked what we do, the best description of our services is that we help clients identify their targets– what is really important for them– and help them to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Our discussions with busy international professionals living in Europe often commence with their obstacles, which tend to fit in that fine margin between important and urgent. (When it comes to targeted investment planning it is always best to address important issues before they also become urgent.) Obstacles like: “I’m too busy”; “I don’t know where to start”; “I didn’t know where to go for help”.
It’s true, inertia is real and our lives are busy. Added to that, some people are concerned they don’t have the subject area expertise, or enough interest to learn how to ‘speak finance.’ That’s where we come in, we speak finance without the jargon.
Our advice is start today. Start with what you want. We always focus our initial client discussions on what you really want out of life. That is after all the purpose of your capital: to give you the life you want to live, now and in the future. This discussion is about your targets. What are your goals?
We can then look at your position: where you are today, where you want to be, and what the gap in between looks like. Then, we can work with you develop strategies to bridge that gap.
This is what it might look like:
One of two situations might arise when we have done a gap analysis: either you are on track to hit your targets or you are not.
If you are in the fortunate position of being on track the focus is keeping you that way with the lowest level of required risk, in the optimal structures and improving your position to give you more choices.
If you do have a gap between where you are currently headed and your targets, there are 4 potential courses of action to get you to those targets and in reality it may be a combination of these that will help you get to where you want to be.
1) Construct a realistic and achievable investment strategy to grow your portfolio over time. This may mean consolidating investments, considering new investment structures or asset classes, and/or changing the amount you invest over time. Remember from last week’s article that small actions over a period of time can have a substantial impact.
2) Reconsider the time frame in which you want to achieve that goal. By adding a few more years, especially with the impact of compound interest, it may help you realise those targets.
3) Reassess the dynamic between the way you are currently invested and your investment risk profile. By taking a more growth focus for a long-term goal, a higher average return over time may be able to be achieved.
4) Interrogate the targets. It might be necessary to reassess your goals and decide what really is important for you. Targets must be realistic and achievable.
Of course, this is a simplification and there are lots of impacting factors and externalities that can impact your goals, your priorities and your investment strategies. One that we see from time to time with international professionals is that goals change. What was important once, can change in priority over a few years. Living outside your home country and moving from place to place can do this to your targets. These are some of the reasons why once a financial and investment plan is established, it needs to be actively monitored and regularly reviewed. This is as important as taking the initial step to set it up and a valuable part of what we do for our clients.
The most valuable step you can take is the first one, to get started. Contact us and we can help you going through the process of identifying and quantifying targets and constructing strategies that are right for you. You can contact us at info@blackswancapital.nl or complete the form on our website here.
