Find Your Financial Balance: Assessing Your Risk Appetite

Everyone takes risks in their life...some more than others. For example…some may love jumping out of airplanes or climbing tall mountains…but others are content with a morning walk through the park.

Everyone also has a level of financial risk tolerance. Understanding that level is a crucial aspect of creating a financial plan.

Here are three reasons why it is essential to establish or re-evaluate your specific risk tolerance.

1. Knowing your risk tolerance helps you to customize an investment portfolio that matches your comfort level.

Investors with a high-risk tolerance may prefer more volatile investments like stocks, which offer higher potential returns but come with increased risk.

Conversely, those with a low-risk tolerance might lean towards bonds or money markets, which typically provide more stable but lower returns.

By understanding your risk tolerance, you can construct a portfolio you're comfortable with, reducing the likelihood of making emotional decisions during market downturns

2. Risk tolerance awareness helps to set realistic financial goals and timelines.

High-risk investments might be suitable for long-term goals like retirement, with ample time to recover from market dips. For short-term goals, a conservative approach might be more appropriate.

Knowing your risk tolerance allows you to align your investment strategy with the time horizon of your goals, increasing the chances of achieving them.

3. Re-evaluating risk tolerance is key in adapting to life changes.

Your risk tolerance may shift as personal circumstances change, such as nearing retirement or experiencing a significant life event.

Regularly reassessing your risk tolerance ensures that your financial plan remains relevant and practical throughout different stages of life.

4. Communication

Ensuring both spouses are on the same page, where both concerns and goals are heard, forms the cornerstone of effective communication and planning together.

In conclusion, understanding your financial risk tolerance is crucial for achieving long-term financial clarity. Embrace and honor your risk tolerance level.

It is a critical component of your financial journey.

And if you discover your current risk tolerance doesn't align with your long-term goals, don't worry - it's never too late to adjust and make changes.

Click this link, and let's find a time to connect if you want to access or re-access your plan.

This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. The strategies and/or investments discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors. Steward Partners recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Wealth Manager. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives.

Steward Partners Investment Solutions and Steward Partners Investment Advisory offers a wide array of advisory services to its clients, each of which may create a different type of relationship with different obligations to you. Please consult with your Wealth Manager to understand these differences. Please visit us at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/Firm/283004 for Steward Partners Investment Advisory or consult with your Wealth Manager to understand these differences.