Author Archives: admin

Defining the Problem

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“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” Albert Einstein

This enlightened quotation by Albert Einstein points to the reason for the failings of many modern innovation and solutions. “Twenty-five percent of failures were due to people trying to solve the wrong problems,” says inventor Darrell Mann, CTO of consulting agency Blackswan, former chief engineer at Rolls-Royce, where he studied innovation duds and dynamos for 15 years.

What organizations struggle with is not solving problems but figuring out what the true problems are they’re trying to solve. Essentially, individuals and organizations are bad at problem diagnosis. Spurred by a penchant for action, corporate and organization executives tend to switch quickly into problem solving mode without checking whether they really understand the problem.

Well-defined problems lead to well aligned and breakthrough solutions. Most companies and organizations aren’t sufficiently rigorous in defining the problems they’re attempting to solve and articulating why those issues are important. Without that rigor, organizations miss opportunities, waste resources, and end up pursuing innovation initiatives that aren’t aligned with their strategies or mission.

Many companies and organizations need to become better at devoting the time and resources to ask the right questions so that they can define and tackle the right problems.

References:

  1. https://www.inc.com/thebuildnetwork/you-cannot-solve-what-you-dont-understand.html
  2. https://hbr.org/2017/01/are-you-solving-the-right-problems?ab=at_art_art_1x1
  3. https://hbr.org/2012/09/the-power-of-defining-the-prob

Never invest in something you don’t understand.

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Many successful investors follow one extremely important rule of thumb: Never invest in something you don’t understand.

Selecting the right companies to invest is very difficult and the decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. When you invest in the stock market, you will be tempted often to buy companies or products that you don’t truly understand.

Consequently, if you can’t understand the investment and understand how it will help you save for the future, build wealth over the long term or achieve your financial goals, do not buy the asset. You need to resist temptation, and focus on the only question that counts:

“Do I understand the business of this company well enough so that I am reasonably confident that it is going to be a good investment?”.

Warren Buffett famously said he has three boxes for investment ideas: in, out and too hard. If a company’s business or product is too difficult to understand, it’s better to just file it in the “too hard” category and move on to another opportunity.

Investors should always remember that a share of stock represents partial ownership of a company. “Just as you would never purchase a private business from someone else without at least looking at its sales, profits, debt and trends of all three of those things at a bare minimum, you need to do the same thing before purchasing stock in a company,” Cornerstone Wealth chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli says. “If you are doing anything else, you are just hoping what you bought will go higher – and hope is never a good strategy.”

Be sure to always read an investment asset’s prospectus or disclosure statement carefully. And, if you are still confused, you should think twice about investing.

The bottom line for investors is simple: If you don’t completely understand how an investment works, or creates revenue, earnings and cash flow, then don’t buy it.

References:

  1. http://www.mymoneyworks.de/back-to-basics/dont-buy-what-you-dont-understand/
  2. https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/2017-05-11/never-invest-in-something-you-dont-understand

Bill Gates: Avoiding a Climate Disaster

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“Do what you can to help keep the planet livable for generations to come.”  Bill Gates

With a new book ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,’ Bill Gates is obsessed with developing clean technology and innovative solutions to combat climate change through his philanthropic work and alongside cadre of billionaire partners.  Additionally, in his new book, he proposes an action plan based on employing technology, innovation and global cooperation to tackle climate change and for ending the world’s carbon dependency.

Gates argues that “world leaders need to shift their focus to long-term strategies aimed at creating a zero-carbon future, a task that scientists warn must be accomplished in a handful of decades to head off catastrophic changes.”

For 20 years, Gates has been studying the twin global afflictions of disease and poverty. These efforts led him to consider climate change and its vexing impact on civilization.  Gates, who is 65, has already confronted intractable problems, like trying to eradicate polio. The co-founder of Microsoft also sounded the alarm early about the need to prepare for a global pandemic. Climate change is yet another challenge Gates used his bully pulpit to sound the alarm.

Bill Gates Has a Master Plan for Battling Climate Change

Bill Gates has confidence in the world’s collective ability to avoid the earth’s descent into a landscape of scorched rainforests and liquefying glaciers, yet his proposed prescription is daunting.  Gates is worried that people will get sick of hearing from him sounding the alarm on the perils of climate change as he flies around the globe in his private jet trying to save the planet.

“This is, you know, a harder problem than ending the pandemic or getting rid of malaria,” Bill Gates says of tackling climate change. But “lots of idealistic people [are] pushing the cause forward.”

“I’ve learned from my work at Microsoft and in philanthropy that the best way to encourage others to take action is to start by doing it yourself’, Gates said. “President Biden has already taken an important first step by rejoining the Paris climate accord. Now the United States can build on that step by adopting a concrete plan that checks several boxes at once: eliminating emissions while adapting to the warming that is already happening, spurring innovative industries, creating jobs for the post-pandemic recovery, and ensuring that everyone benefits from the transition to a green economy.”

In the 15 years that Gates has been learning about and investing in clean energy, he states that he has “benefited from many discussions with scientists, policy experts, and elected leaders from across the political spectrum, in the United States and around the world”.

Drawing on those conversations, he proposes four actions that America and other countries can take to advance their leadership on climate change this year and put the world on a path to zero emissions by 2050:

1.  Increase the supply of innovation.

We need breakthroughs in the way we generate and store clean electricity, grow food, make things, move around, and heat and cool our buildings, so we can do all these things without adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. We have some of the tools we need, like solar and wind power, but far from all of them. And we won’t develop new tools without a dramatic infusion of investment and focus from the federal government.

2.  Increase the demand for innovation.

“I learned the hard way at Microsoft that simply making a great product doesn’t guarantee that you will beat the competition”, Gates explained. “Sometimes there’s just not enough demand for what you’re selling.”

The lesson for climate change is that the world can’t avoid a climate disaster through technological innovation alone. We need policy innovations to make sure that scientists’ breakthroughs make it from the lab to the market, and that they’re affordable enough for developing countries as well as rich ones.

That means doing things like setting standards for how much electricity or fuel must come from zero-carbon options. Governments can also use their procurement power to create demand for cleaner options—for example, buying only electric buses, as the city of Shenzhen, China has done. They can build the infrastructure that allows for green options: charging stations for electric vehicles, or new transmission lines to deliver clean energy from the places where it’s generated to the places where it’s consumed.

Finally, governments can level the playing field so it’s easier for clean alternatives to compete on price.

The idea isn’t to punish people for their greenhouse gases. It’s to create incentives for inventors to create competitive carbon-free alternatives and for consumers to buy them.

3.  Work globally.

Climate change is the definition of a global issue. Temperatures won’t stop going up in Texas unless emissions stop going up in India.

That is why governments need to work together to develop common goals, share knowledge, and make sure that clean technologies developed in one country will spread quickly to others. This cooperation can happen on a bilateral basis—between two countries talking directly to each other—as well as among many governments through venues like the United Nations.

4.  Prepare for a warming world.

“We’re already seeing the impact of climate change”, Gates announced. “So even as we develop and deploy ways to prevent future warming, we also need to adapt to the effects that higher temperatures are having around the world.”

Countries will need to invest in climate-proofing infrastructure to cope with more severe weather and rising sea levels. This includes upgrading electrical grids, expanding storm water drainage systems, and building or expanding seawalls. And two of the best ways for wealthy countries to help low- and middle-income ones is to invest in primary health care and make sure smallholder farmers can grow enough food to feed everyone.

References:

  1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-gates-interview-climate-change-book-11613173337?tesla=y&mod=e2twmag
  2. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/15/bill-gates-climate-change-468928
  3. https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/4-ways-the-US-can-reassert-leadership-on-climate-change
  4. https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/How-to-Avoid-a-Climate-Disaster-announcement

Buying Homes During Covid

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People Rushed to Buy Homes During COVID-19. Now, They Regret It.

The hot real-estate markets across the U.S. led to a number of buyers to purchase homes without performing due diligence

A cardinal rule of home buying is that you shouldn’t rush into a purchase of a home. But in 2020 and now in early 2021, millions of Americans did and are doing just that…rush into purchasing a home, occasionally sight unseen or without a thorough home inspection.

Fleeing small apartments, buying vacation homes or simply looking for a change of scenery amid the crushing boredom of lockdowns, people scrambled to buy houses amid the pandemic, spurring bidding wars and supercharging real-estate markets across the country, according to Candance Taylor*, reporter with the WSJ. Now, many are discovering the pitfalls of these hasty purchases, ranging from buyers’ remorse and financial strain to damage caused by unexpected problems.

At the same time, inventory dropped as many homeowners hesitated to list their properties in the pandemic.  The pandemic has aggravated the housing market’s longstanding lack of supply, creating a historic shortage of homes for sale. The shortage has pushed home prices higher, stretching the budgets of many middle-class and first-time home buyers. The median existing-home price crossed above $300,000 for the first time ever in July, up 8.5% from a year earlier, according to NAR.

The result is that much of the country saw a price spike and bidding wars, brokers said, leaving buyers with little to choose from. In these conditions, many are tempted to waive inspections or skip other due diligence they would normally perform before buying a home.

Over the past two years, the insurance company Chubb has seen large, non-weather-related losses increase in frequency and severity, according to Fran O’Brien, division president of Chubb North America Personal Risk Services. She attributed these losses in part to hasty home purchases: Buyers moving from a small city apartment to a large home in a rural area may not be well versed in how to prevent the pipes from freezing, for example.

“People are moving to places that they don’t know a lot about,” Ms. O’Brien said. “They’re thinking, ‘this looks like a nice place to live’ for amenities it may have. They don’t understand what risk there could be with that home.”

People are even more likely to overlook those risks, she said, when they are in a hurry to snap up a home before someone else does. “You run into this lack of awareness and lack of time, which is not a good combination.”

A HomeAdvisor report found that Americans did an average of 1.2 emergency home repairs in 2020, up from 0.4 in 2019, while emergency home spending jumped to an average of $1,640, up $124 from the 2019 average.

References:

  1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-people-rushed-to-buy-homes-during-covid-now-they-regret-it-11613062856
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-want-homes-but-there-have-rarely-been-fewer-for-sale-11600680612?mod=article_inline

* Candace Taylor, Real Estate Reporter and Editor at The Wall Street Journal

What Every Woman Needs To Know About Her Money

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“The lion’s share of wealth, two-thirds of wealth in the United States, is going to end up in the hands of women by the year 2030.” Jean Chatzky

The women that Jean Chatzky, New York Times Bestselling Author and financial editor at the NBC TODAY Show, has talked with “share a lack of confidence” regarding managing and investing their money. “Whether we’ve got one hundred, one hundred thousand, or one million dollars, we don’t always feel equipped to manage it, even when we’re doing exactly the right things,” she explained.

In order to create a better world, Chatzky suggests women should, “…use this power that’s coming our way to improve not just our lives, but the lives of the people that we love and care about, and the causes that  we believe in. We really do have an opportunity through giving and investing to create the world we want.”

Women…”have an opportunity through giving and investing to create the world we want.” Jean Chatzky

Chatzky offers 15 tips to help you get a handle on your finances and to create the financial future you want for yourself.  A future that aligns with your goals, values and purpose in life.

1. Talk openly about money

Chatzky explains, “We gather groups of women who don’t make a habit of talking about money with the specific purpose of talking about money…and it’s really freeing.” One open ended question she asks is, “What do you want your money to do for you?”.

2. Track your spending to see what you really value

Do you want a clear picture of your spending? More so, do you want to uncover whether or not what you say are priorities are aligned with your expenditures?

3. Determine what your ideal life actually costs

“What do you want from your life?” This is a question Chatzky believe you need to consider so that you can determine what your ideal life actually costs. Write down what you want and next to each item, list the price to do or have it.

4. Use money as a resource to buy you more time

Money is a tool which creates freedom of time and choice. Chatzy shares, “The most important thing to realize is the opportunity that you’re wasting. Money we can get more of. Time, you absolutely can’t get more of…But by moving around some of our money, we can restructure our time in a way that feels much better, much more fulfilling, and much less stressful. We are so stressed, and using our money to swap for a little bit of extra time is one great way to reduce some of that stress.”

5. Identify your money scripts

“We all have stories around money which became ingrained as children. In some cases we mimic them, in others we rebel against them. In order to know where you’re going with your financial future, it’s helpful to identify the scripts that are overtly or subliminally impacting your views and habits around money,” advises Chatzky.

6. Find financial harmony in your primary relationship

Chatzy suggests, “Listening is the key to success within a relationship. You have to understand why your partner needs what they need as much as they need to understand what you need.”

7. Don’t let money injure your friendships

“Listen and read between the lines. We know an awful lot about our friends’ financial situations, even if they tell us not one thing. We see how they spend. We see how they manage. We know if they’re stressed financially. We just have to be a little bit empathetic and open-minded about the fact that they may not have the same choices or priorities that we have. And that doesn’t mean that we can’t be great friends,” shares Chatzky.

8. Teach your kids early

It can feel scary to talk to your kids about money, especially if you feel tentative about your own financial skills. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be challenging: “Kids have to have money in order to learn to manage money.”

9. Get paid what you deserve

To charge or get paid what you deserve, “First, you must know what you deserve and once you know what that number is, you have to ask for it:

10. Negotiating won’t hurt your outcomes

The person on the other side of the table, they are waiting for you to negotiate, according to Chatzky. They’re not going to punish you for negotiating. You may not get the money. But asking is not going to hurt you.

11. To be or not to be (an entrepreneur)

30% of US businesses are women-owned, and that number is rising steadily.

12. Spend on others

Studies show that when you do for others, you’re guaranteed to feel happier. This includes when you spend on others. “There’s no sense in feeling guilty for spending money that’s not sabotaging our financial life”, says Chatzky.

13. Talk with aging parents

“If you haven’t had a conversation with your parents before you’ve hit age forty or they hit age seventy, it’s time”, she comments

14. Have a little fun with your money

Chatzky comes from a judgment-free zone when it comes to how you spend your money. But, “know how much it costs” since you earned that money and yours to do with as you want.

15. Consider your legacy

“You have to think about what’s important to you. That’s where a lot of us fall down when it comes to charitable giving”, Chatzky says.

Building wealth

If you want to build wealth, you need only do four things, according to Chatzky:

  1. Make a decent living.
  2. Spend less than you make.
  3. Invest the money you donʼt spend.
  4. Protect the financial world you build so that a disaster doesnʼt take it all away from you.

Building wealth sounds easy, so why is it so hard, particularly for women?  “Because women according to Chatzky, “make excuses”. We tell ourselves that we’re “just not good with money,” or that our husbands “like taking care of the finances.”

In short, “what successful women want from their money are: independence, security, choices, a better world, and–oh yes–way less stress, not just for themselves but for their kids, partners, parents, and friends.”

To read more: https://www.vunela.com/jean-chatzky-on-the-top-15-things-every-woman-needs-to-know-about-her-money/

References:

  1. https://www.vunela.com/jean-chatzky-on-the-top-15-things-every-woman-needs-to-know-about-her-money/
  2. https://www.jeanchatzky.com/books/

Financial Wellness

Aside

Financial Wellness: Time to tune up your financial goals, plan and strategy.

Tax season is upon us meaning that the 2020 filing season officially opens on February 12, 2021, and the final deadline is April 15, unless the IRS announces changes. For that reason, it is the time to assess your financial health, gather your tax documents and get your personal finance in order.

Knowing where you stand financially before the tax filing deadline gives you time to adjust your current tax withholding and also figure out what you can contribute to accounts like traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and health savings accounts, based on your modified adjusted income and your overall financial picture.

“People focus on the negative. They don’t like locating all the files, math is scary, and there’s this need to be very precise,” says Andy Reed, PhD, Fidelity’s vice president for behavioral economics. “The beginning of the year is a good trigger for taking stock of your financial situation, which is good to do once a year.”

https://twitter.com/raininstantpay/status/1359117351124430853?s=21

Financial wellness

Knowing where you stand is a critical to financial wellness. “Financial Wellness” relates to thinking about and paying attention to your financial well-being. And, there is no better time than now to hit the refresh button and create a path towards financial wellness. Thus, having your financial plan and strategy in place can not only mean a great deal to you in the long term, but it may provide you some comfort in the short term.

The first thing to do is to do a financial year in review by calculating your personal net worth (assets – liabilities) and assessing your cash flow (income – expenses). Once you know where you stand financially, you can plot out how you achieve your financial goals, according to Charles Schwab financial advisors. Consequently, thinking about what you really want financially, your goals, is the first step toward getting it.

“Saving and investing wisely helps you work toward a more secure future, it also gives you freedom to focus on you.”

Your primary financial focus should be earning and saving money, managing spending and debt, and setting up an emergency fund. Cash flow is financial oxygen of financial wellness, explained Berna Anat, a financial literacy educator and creator of financial education website Hey Berna. “Once you can breathe better, you can plan better.”

To achieve a sense of financial wellness means having your financial plan, strategy and goals in place. Financial wellness can not only mean a great deal to you in the long term, but it may provide you some comfort in the short term.

References:

  1. https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/personal-finance/getting-started-on-tax-returns
  2. https://www.become.co/blog/january-financial-wellness-month
  3. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/21/12-month-roadmap-to-financial-wellness.html
  4. https://equitable.com/goals/financial-security/basics/invest-for-retirement

 

Celebrating American Heart Month

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#1 cause of death in the U.S. is HEART DISEASE!

Heart disease is a catch-all phrase for a variety of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and function. Coronary heart disease is a type of heart disease that develops when the arteries of the heart cannot deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

Despite the devastating toll of COVID-19, heart disease remains the most costly and leading cause of death in the United States. Specifically, myocardial infarction (MI) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are the leading causes of death in the U.S. and other Western societies.

Coronary heart disease is often caused by the buildup of plaque, a waxy substance, inside the lining of larger coronary arteries. This buildup can partially or totally block blood flow in the large arteries of the heart.

Some types of this condition may be caused by disease or injury affecting how the arteries work in the heart. Coronary microvascular disease is another type of coronary heart disease. It occurs when the heart’s tiny blood vessels do not work normally.

The death rate from heart attacks has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic because people are delaying or not seeking care after experiencing mild symptoms. And, symptoms of coronary heart disease differ from person to person even if they have the same type of coronary heart disease. However, because many Americans have no symptoms, they do not know they have coronary heart disease until they have chest pain, a heart attack, or sudden cardiac arrest.

Protect yourself…

90% of heart disease and stroke is preventable through lifestyle changes and risk factor modification. During Heart Month, it is critical to recommit to fighting this disease by promoting better health, wellness, and prevention awareness in your homes and communities.

There’s a lot you can do to prevent heart disease. You and your friends and family can begin by working together to meet your heart health goals. Move more, work on your weight and salt intake, quit smoking—it’s all easier when you have social support.

Motivating Americans to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent heart disease is the goal of Heart Month. Focusing on your heart health has never been more important. People with poor cardiovascular health are also at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Let’s celebrate American Heart month by incorporating heart-healthy cardio activity into your day today:

  • Get Moving (exercise)
  • Quit Smoking (No More Excuses)
  • Lose Weight (Your weight matters)
  • Eat Heart Healthy Foods (talk to a doctor or a nutritionist)
  • Don’t Overeat
  • Don’t Stress

Make heart health a regular part of your self-care routine.

Wish all a Happy Valentine’s Day, and to remind you to take care of your heart

References

  1. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/american-heart-month/about
  2. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/heart-month/help-prevent-heart-disease

Financial Opportunities

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“There’s never been a recession or depression we haven’t recovered from. We will recover from this. The economy will recover, and the markets will recover. The average recession takes about 17 months to recover.” David Bach

Learning how to look for financial opportunities during a crisis and understanding how small amounts of money saved and invested can change your life are important skills and mindset to embrace. It’s a skill that can be taught. And, you can learn how to invest, to think like an investor and believe that you can to become a self-made millionaire.

To accomplishment these goals, it starts with you needing to have absolute clarity around where every single dollar is going. You should scrutinize your expenses and spending like a broke certified public accountant and ensure every dollar is given a purpose. And you must look at cutting discretionary expenses and spending like your life depended on it. Since small amounts of money, saved for the future and invested over a long period of time, can change your life for the better thanks to the miracle of compound interest and starting early.

Thus, get rid of storage unit with stuff you haven’t looked at in a year, let the stuff go. Cancel gym memberships, social memberships, anything subscription-related. And, do not buy that shiny new vehicle that costs more than your personal net worth.

Owners get rich.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not like where you end up.”

There are three types of people in the world, according to David Bach’s grandmother– the person who taught him about investing: There are those who visit McDonald’s and spend money and eat cheeseburgers. There are those who work here at minimum wage, which is a really hard way to make a living. And there are those who invest in this place and they own it. Owners of assets are the ones who build wealth and get rich, he recalls her saying since “assets make money while you sleep”.

Even during market downturns and recessions, there are companies that are going to do well. So instead of focusing on what’s not working and the negative blather coming from financial news, you need to figure out what is working. Asked yourself, “which companies are doing well right now?”

There are two escalators or avenues for retail investors to building wealth: stocks and real estate, according to financial guru David Bach, author of the best selling book “Automatic Millionaire”.

Crisis Makes Some People Wealthy

Every time a crisis happens, it creates opportunities for a lot of people to become wealthy. Why? Because assets are on sale when there’s a crisis. People sell luxury items such as homes and boats because they can no longer afford them. People sell artwork for 1/5 of the price and short-sell homes. All kinds of assets are for sale when there’s an end of the world type of mentality.

So it’s important to have a strategy for these opportunities. And, markets will tank again in the next two to three years. Yet, no one knows if or when that will happen, but what you do know that the economy and the equity market will  tank in the next 20 years. And you have to be ready for it because there will be opportunities to purchase assets on sale, if you’re prepared.

“During recessions, the markets put everything on sale, which is why recessions make millionaires”, Bach says.

Big hat, no cattle…be rich vice looking rich

If you try to get rich overnight, you will remain poor forever. Instead, you should become financially selfish and the first thing to do when you earn money is to pay yourself first. You should selfishly keep the pay or “paying yourself first” from the first hour of income each workday.

References :

  1. https://money.com/david-bach-interview-homebuyer-mortgage-challenge/
  2. https://www.creativelive.com/class/how-to-retire-early-the-latte-factor-david-bach
  3. https://www.patrickbetdavid.com/the-20-rules-of-money

Investment Plan

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“An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan.” Warren Buffett

Creating budgets and financial milestones are great, but you need an actual investment plan to help you stay on track. It’s one of the most critical steps to meeting your long-term financial goals. According to Warren Buffett, “An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan,” and this is especially true in investing.

Planning helps you focus on long-term goals, not short-term fears and market volatility. If your goal is 20 years away, a loss over one month or year probably isn’t all that important. Focus on your individual goals and time horizon. People who invest more time planning their finances invariably make better decisions, get better results, and achieve financial independence.

It’s also important to know why and for what you are investing in because it will influence how and in what you invest. This is the basis of an investment plan. The best investment plan is one that is tailored to you, and includes an individualized strategy and goals that will set you on the path to success. That means a plan that takes into account your individual goals, situation, and time horizon—and one that’s diversified.

“People who invest more time planning their finances invariably make better decisions, get better results, and achieve financial independence.” Brian Tracy

Diversification doesn’t mean you won’t ever lose money. But owning a mix of investments can help reduce the risk. That way if some investments drop, others may rise, helping you reach your goals. And, you should always manage your risk—by choosing an asset mix that is appropriate for your current circumstances, and creating diversification within that asset mix to improve your risk/return relationship.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Current Financial Standing

The first step in creating your investment plan is to evaluate your current financial standing and determine how much you have to invest.

Step 2: Define What You Want to Accomplish

Your short or long term goals that you want to achieve in your life will impact your investing strategy. Where do you want to be when you retire? Do you want to own a house? Do you want to create passive income? Do you want to create generational wealth for your family?

Defining what you want to accomplish will help you determine how much risk you can take and what type of investments to make that will help you achieve what you want to accomplish in your lifetime.

Step 3: Determine How Much Risk You Can Take

Rule #1 of Investing is to not lose money, but there is always some risk involved when investing in an unpredictable stock market. How much risk can you take based on what you want to accomplish (what we just talked about) and how much time do you have to accomplish it?

If you want to earn money for retirement and retirement is 30 years away, you have a lot of time for your money to grow and recover from economic downturns, so you can afford to be more aggressive. However, if retirement is only a few years away, you will need to make more conservative investments that ensure you will have enough money, but won’t lose it.

Step 4: Decide What Type of Investment to Make

You need to decide what type of investments will help you accomplish what you have set out to accomplish. Consider building a mix of stocks, bonds, and short-term investment. You should learn about the different types of investments that are available before you start investing your money.

Step 5: Establish Your Time Horizon

Time Horizon is the period where one expects to hold an investment for a specific goal. The longer the time horizon, the more aggressive, or riskier portfolio, an investor can build.  Simply put, your investment time horizon is the length of time you need your portfolio to work for you.

Planning and goals are really just the means to the end. The end being the tangible things (retirement security, house, generational wealth, etc.) you set out to accomplish. You should make a promise to yourself that you will accomplish that thing and make a plan to go after it.

And monitor your investments per you plan and progress toward your goals on a set, not-too-frequent schedule—perhaps quarterly or twice a year, or if your goals or circumstances change.

By developing and sticking to an investment plan that’s squarely focused on achieving your individual goals is essential in successful investing.

Regardless of your plan, it is critically important to recognize that investing involves the risk of loss. Having a plan that aligns with your objectives and risk tolerance, educating yourself on investing and doing your research to know the risks associated with investing are all vitally important.

Bottom line is that financial plans don’t fail people. Instead, people fail to plan.

The only way to find financial security is to draw yourself a map. Folks who have specific financial plans that detail what they want save more than people who don’t…Why? Because human beings are easily distracted (especially by shiny new things). So unless you have a road map that tells you where you’re going, it is very, very hard to get there. It’s not that the map will never change.  Revising your specific plans for the future is far better than not having any plans at all.

References:

  1. https://www.ruleoneinvesting.com/blog/how-to-invest/investment-planning/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=investing-strategies&utm_content=interest&utm_term=cold&dclid=CID8g7PmzO4CFTEYwQod5T0EGw
  2. https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/personal-finance/financial-improvement?ccsource=email_weekly
  3. https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/active-investor/trading-guide-managing-investment-risks-and-opportunities?ccsource=email_weekly

Double-Masking Offers More Protection

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As more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread, the CDC says wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers increased protection against the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers more protection against the coronavirus, as does tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks.

For optimal protection, the CDC says to make sure the mask fits snugly against your face and to choose a mask with at least two layers.

In laboratory testing, CDC discovered that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask, and tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks and then tucking in and flattening the extra material against the face produced substantially improved protection against transmission of and exposure to infectious COVID-19 aerosols.

“A well-fitting masks provided the greatest performance at both blocking emitted aerosols and exposure of aerosols to the receiver”, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “In the breathing experiment, having both the source and the receiver wear masks modified to fit better reduced the receiver’s exposure by more than 95%, compared to no mask at all.”

Walensky said the laboratory findings underscore the importance of wearing a mask correctly and ensuring it fits snugly over your nose and mouth.

Correct and consistent mask use is a critical step everyone can take to prevent getting and spreading COVID-19. Masks work best when everyone wears them, but not all masks provide the same protection, according to the CDC. When choosing a mask, look at how well it fits, how well it filters the air, and how many layers it has.

Two important ways to make sure your mask works the best it can:

  1. Make sure your mask fits snugly against your face.  Gaps can let air with respiratory droplets leak in and out around the edges of the mask
  2. Pick a mask with layers to keep your respiratory droplets in and others’ out.  A mask with layers will stop more respiratory droplets getting inside your mask or escaping from your mask if you are sick.

Where your mask after receiving the vaccine

No one knows and there is no ongoing research to determine how well do the approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines protect against asymptomatic infection and thereby help achieve herd immunity And, the other looming mystery is how long vaccine-induced immunity lasts.

References:

  1. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/02/10/966313710/cdc-now-recommends-double-masking-for-more-protection-against-the-coronavirus
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/effective-masks.html