Step 5: Decide if you should manage yourself, or have pros do it for you

Just imagine. A computer program on Wall Street is constantly monitoring the fund you've bought into. As soon as it starts to dip in value, your fund's manager there is notified and makes any changes if necessary, even buying and selling stocks in that fund for you, without any additional fees, to make sure your fund is performing its very best at all times. You have the peace of mind that that fund manager is going to invest at his best, because he is actually paid by performance. (If your fund goes down, he's paid less.) Then, on top of that, your Financial Advisor, there in town with you, is constantly monitoring your fund, so as soon as it starts to trend below your pre-set limits, your FA will move your investment for you to a newly-researched, up-swinging fund! -Meaning that at all times you have TWO people and software all monitoring your managed money day and night. -Which is a lot more than you could ever possibly do on your own, even if you watched it 24/7!

Technically, we would be negligent not to inform you that there is still a small risk involved with this process due to the instability of the stock market. But if the fund manager in question were to lose more than a set amount of money than your pre-set limits allow for, then your FA will be notified and can replace that fund with another one instantly. You can afford to be at your most aggressive with such a service, with the least possible amount of risk. It would literally take a string of bad coincidences, all at the same time, at just the wrong time in the market for you to even lose any money in such a managed fund, and even then, you're likely to make it back and then some in a very short while. The bottom line here is that while it's not 100% safe and guaranteed to grow like an annuity, it's by far safer than any other form of investment vehicle, while at the same time possible to make earnings more like 50%. (Some have performed over 100%!)

In the long run, this option really is a no-brainer. As long as you can find an FA that deserves your trust.

Still worried about the risks? Add more good funds! If one fund that is heavy with stocks were to go down, then add another fund that is heavy in Bonds to weigh it out and you'd still profit overall! Your FA can help you pick the most diversified possible set of funds for your goals, no matter if he is handling them personally or not.

So, looking for the right FA is clearly your assignment here. This is time consuming though, so in the meantime, you will probably want to read on for your own benefit. The last 4 steps are all part of the job for a professional Financial Advisor, but it still would help all of you to know what exactly they are and how they work. If you are opting to handle your accounts by yourself, then this is where you are going to spend the most time studying.

      Onward to Step 6: Diversification & Asset Allocation