Building blocks of a portfolio

It pays to address the fundamental questions before diving into an investment

- TOM WATSON

There will come a point in time for many Australians when they ask themselves: should I invest my money?

According to research by comparison site Finder in 2022, 9.8 million people have their money invested outside superannuation. Sixteen per cent hold direct shares in a company and 7.1% have invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Building an investment portfolio isn’t simple. Even a fundamental decision such as choosing which assets to buy first can be overwhelming, especially when there are so many choices.

With that in mind, here are five important questions to consider.

1 What are your goals?

One of the first things would-be investors should consider is their goals. That’s not to say that having specific goals will be crucial to success, but they can help inform decisions around investment mix and strategy.

“Before you decide on the right investments, it’s important to determine what it is you are investing for,” says Tim Sparks, head of distribution and marketing at online stockbroker Bell Direct.

“Many people have more than one investment goal – for example, saving for a new car, saving for a house deposit and saving for retirement. It is important to know that you need different investment strategies for different goals.”

Chris Brycki, founder and chief executive of online investment adviser Stockspot, agrees that goals, along with investing timeframes, are critical. “How long you’re planning to invest has an enormous impact on what you should be invested into, as the right investment portfolio for someone investing for three years is very, very different from someone investing for 10 or 15 years,” he says.