With the children out of the way and the mortgage at least close to being paid off you may find that your financial priorities are changing.
You may no longer want to put quite so much effort into your career and instead start concentrating on enjoying life, not just now, but planning how you will do so in the future.
You will want to secure your wealth. But you may face a problem. The traditional answer for accumulating wealth for the future – putting money into a savings account – now means very poor returns. A combination of low interest rates and steady inflation may mean that the real value of your saved cash will actually fall.
But there is another way to potentially build the wealth you need for the future. At Continuum we are looking at getting started as an investor.
The potential for older investors
When you put your cash into a savings account, it stays as cash. You will know exactly how much interest you will earn.
Unfortunately, in the current market it will not earn very much. If you are counting on income from savings to help provide a comfortable retirement, you are likely to be disappointed.
When you invest on the other hand, your money is used to buy something which may provide an income, or which may increase in value. Stocks and shares and bonds are common choices.
Investments mean some risk. Their value can fall as well as rise and if a business you have invested in fails, you could lose your money. But in return for the risk, you have the potential to make much more than savings will offer.
What’s more, with proper planning, your investment can provide a steady income, capital growth or both – allowing you to tailor your investment to your particular needs.
Getting started
It is never too late to become an investor, but you need to be aware of an important point. Successful investment is never a matter of trusting to luck or grabbing a bargain, even if you are sure you have been given an expert tip. It always requires careful planning.
You should look at what your financial goals are and when you want to achieve them. Then – with some help from a Continuum financial expert – it should be possible to create an investment plan to ensure that you reach them.
You may want look to grow your capital. A sound basis for most people’s investment is a Stocks and Shares ISA, which gives you the potential growth of the stockmarket with the added benefit of being tax efficient, helping your cash potentially build faster.
But it is not the only option to consider. If you have already built up capital, you might want to think about using it to provide a regular income.
Expert guidance will make it simple to find the investments that are right for you.
Investing can be simple
You don’t have to be an expert to succeed at investing. You don’t even need to worry about individual stocks or doing painstaking research. Some knowledge is no bad thing, but we can help you invest through a fund which will get an investment manager to provide all the expertise you need.
At Continuum, we can help you create a plan to make the most of your investments and your pension, whatever your age.
