One of the best ways to ease your stress as an investor is to take the emotion out of your decision-making. And the best way to take the emotion out of the equation is to establish a clear set of investing criteria. By knowing precisely what a good investment looks like, you’ll be able to make wise decisions quickly, efficiently and with confidence … no matter what else is going on in the world. Unfortunately, there is no magic set of criteria that works for everyone. You’ll have to do the work. (But you absolutely can and should do the work with the support of your CPA and other financial advisors.)
Define your investing criteria based on where you are in life, where you want to go and how you’d like to get there.
Some things to think about include:
What rate of return are you targeting?
What are your cash-flow requirements?
How do you feel about using leverage?
What is your exit strategy?
What are the tax repercussions?
The tax piece is huge! Yes, a lot of investments will increase your taxes. But there are some excellent options that the government is so excited to have you make it is willing to reduce your taxes or even pay you to make. Sounds crazy, right?
Not if you think about it this way: Governments around the world recognize their societies are better off when businesses and private citizens invest in things like creating jobs, building housing and growing food. So, they create tax incentives to promote these investments.
Tom did more than a year’s worth of research studying these incentives in the U.S. and 14 other countries. It’s fascinating stuff. He’s been studying tax laws for decades, and he uncovered things — good and bad — he didn’t expect. You’ll find it all in his book, The Win-Win Wealth Strategy: 7 Investments the Government Will Pay You to Make. Reviewing these 7 investments is an essential part of establishing your investing criteria. Which ones will make your list?
Want to learn more about choosing the best investments for you? TFW Advisors® can help. Our clients have access to a library packed with informational resources, including the 12-lesson course 3 Minute Investment Decisions: The Stress-Free Method for Finding and Choosing Great Investments. It’s just one of the powerful tools that are part of the TFW Advisors® System. To find out how we can help you, schedule a call with our team today!