Nowadays, there are so many investment options available to us—commercial, alternative, real estate, crowdfunding, stocks, bonds, high-risk, low-risk­—the options are endless. This makes it increasingly difficult to figure out which investment decision will provide the maximum rewards. In addition, the excess of information within the investment market makes it even more difficult to discover what information can be trusted and relied upon.

We must therefore take into account some factors to ensure that we have made the right investment decision.

Draw a personal finance map

First of all you must sit down and think very carefully about your financial situation. One of the main aspects that you have to consider is your risk tolerance–from this standpoint, you are likely to need some help from a financial professional. Another important factor is the investor’s age, as it would be unsuitable for an investor reaching retirement age to invest in high-risk products.

Investment objective

Do you want to make your money grow fast and risk is not an important factor for you, as you have more time and resources to recover from a downturn? Or, do you just want to preserve your capital in the safest way and you prefer that it doesn’t lose its value? You need to answer these questions to be sure about what kind of investment product is the most adequate for you.

Investment diversification

It is essential that keen investors diversify their portfolio: investing in a unique sector is riskier than investing across different asset categories.

Portfolio readjustment periodically

If you readjust your portfolio occasionally, you will ensure that it doesn’t overemphasise one or more asset classes. The reason for this is because when market conditions cause one asset category to do well, it frequently produces another asset class to have average or low income.

Time before you need the money

You must take into account the time you have before turning your investment into cash. If you need to increase capital in the short-term, you should invest in more liquid assets. Nevertheless, if you don’t need to see a return for your money soon, it would be an excellent idea to invest in bonds, properties or other commercial opportunities.

If you want to make the right investment decision, you must sit down, take a look at your complete economic situation and ask help from investment professionals, especially if this is the first time that you are deciding to invest.