Are you on track this year?
Photo: Contributed
By Hee Young Chung
Believe it or not, the year will be over before you know it. Are you on track to maxing out your RRSP, TFSA and other registered contributions this year? Are you saving and organizing all the documents you need for the 2021 income tax year? Are you wondering when is the best time to re-evaluate your long-term goals?
Now, as we head into fall, it is an ideal time to re-evaluate long-term goals and look at your strategy to make sure it’s still working to help you get where you want to go. A balanced, well-diversified portfolio can help you take advantage of current market conditions and still help you be prepared for more volatility.
Has anything changed over the summer for you? Where are you positioned with work, retirement, children and grandchildren? Are you planning on making any large purchases in the next few months? Are you happy with your year so far? We all want happiness, but everyone defines it differently. We can all agree that competing feelings of anxiety, fear, guilt, or resentment get in the way of feeling happy.
Strategy-wise, are you committed to your long-term goals? Does a diversified portfolio that helps protect against volatility give you peace of mind? Designing and maintain a financial strategy that is focused on your long-term goals will help you to ignore the daily ups and downs, media talking heads and all the noise that can distract you from feeling truly happy.
Staying disciplined regardless of market conditions is a virtue shared by talented investors. One of the main truths of investing is that timing the markets is impossible. However, there are steps we can take to help ensure your financial strategy can handle market volatility:
1. Focus on the long term: Market ups and downs are natural, but a long-term horizon has been proven to be the most effective.
2. Diversification: A diversified strategy should support your long-term goals.
3. Tune out the noise: Obsessing over daily numbers and talking heads is a recipe for stress and panicked decision-making. Remember your goals and stick to your plan.
The pandemic upended many peoples’ routines, schedules and plans, but there’s no time like the present to get back on track. Staying in touch with your long-term goals requires meeting yearly milestones, such as contributions or checking in twice a year with your financial planner. The road to becoming financially ready for retirement can be broken down into yearly milestones. As with any road to happiness, preparation is the key to reaching your retirement destination.
Hee Young Chung is an associate advisor with IPC Securities/Bradford Wealth Partners with a CPA, CA designation specializing in tax planning, insurance, business transition and succession.
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