


I confessed to Scherer that, during the pandemic, I put a little money into a lot of individual stocks without much research or thought. "If the idea right now that your money is 90% in risky assets and only 10% in something that's safe makes you uneasy, it's OK to adjust this to be in a more comfortable place as you seek advice and guidance from a professional," says Scherer.ģ. Scherer says that because I'm a bit scared of risk right now and unsure of my financial goals, it might make more sense to dial that down from 90/10 to 80% stock and 20% bonds. Without much thought, I did what my friends did and set that tolerance to be 90% stocks and 10% bonds, making this allocation very risky. All you have to do is set your risk tolerance and they do the rest. My risk balance might be wrongĪ few years ago, after many friends advised me to do this, I opened up an investment portfolio on a platform that automatically manages your money for you. Once I know the answers to those two things, I can consider putting that money into the market for retirement (through index or mutual funds), or investing in real estate (both directly by purchasing real estate or through an REIT, which allows you to invest in real estate properties without buying one yourself). Scherer says that, first, it's important to assess my risk tolerance, then get clarity on when I'd want to access that money in the future (whether it's for retirement in 20 years or to buy a house in five years). Scherer said it's great to have cash on hand as an emergency fund and a good rule of thumb is that a couple should have between six and nine months of fixed and variable expenses in their cash account.

I'm making this mistake because I'm not sure what else to do with that money and I'm scared to lose it. More than half of my financial portfolio is made up of cash just sitting in my savings account. The first mistake I knew Scherer was going to bring up is a mistake I've knowingly made for years. I have too much cash in a savings account I sat down with Adam Scherer, a financial planner and president of Greenbeat Financial, to look over every inch of my financial portfolio to not only identify the mistakes I'm making but make a game plan for how I can start fixing them.ġ. Since I never worked one-on-one with a financial professional, I always wondered if I was making any glaring mistakes. I didn't know what to do first, so I just did anything I could to tighten up my spending and start investing. I was eager to approach a new decade of my life with my finances in a strategic place so I could meet big goals I had for my future, like retiring early and buying property. I had spent most of my 20s making all kinds of money mistakes (from not saving for retirement to racking up credit card debt). Right before I turned 30, I decided to get serious about my finances. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept our
