Like every investor, you want to choose investments that will provide the growth and income you need to meet your financial goals. To do that, it’s important to understand what your investment choices are and how different types of investments put your money to work.

It’s equally important to understand yourself as an investor. That’s because a portfolio that’s right for someone else may not be best for you. The factors that make a difference are:

• Your age

• our goals, or what you want to accomplish by investing

• The time frames for your various goals

• Your attitude toward risk—or what’s called your risk tolerance
  
  

Once you’ve devised a strategy for choosing investments appropriate to each of your goals, you’ve taken a major step toward meeting them. But building your portfolio is just the first part of the process. You may also find that as your life circumstances or priorities evolve, or as a major goal approaches, that you need to change the mix of investments in your portfolio. That’s all part of being an investor.