Westward Group for Tax and Estate Planning Advisors Tokyo Paris Review: 5 Investing Resolutions for 2015

Consider rebalancing your portfolio in anticipation of the new year.

With the holiday season upon us, we should make time to reflect on the past year and think about our financial goals, milestones we hope to reach in 2015 and how we can better prepare for retirement.

It’s also important to remember tax season is around the corner. Therefore, now is also a great time to review your investments and your saving and spending behaviors. Next, you can determine resolutions that may be right for your financial situation.

As you plan your 2015 resolutions, here are five tips to consider that may help you enhance your investing and retirement planning strategies.

1. Give your portfolio a tuneup. Now is a great time to review portfolio holdings and performance, and to determine how to maintain an investing strategy to help reach your goals. Take a look at your investments. Does your portfolio align with your risk tolerance? You can find online tools through brokerages to help you understand your portfolio’s gains and losses. Investors can create a diversified portfolio with multiple ETFs, for example. Using dollar-based investing, you can streamline the asset allocation process.

2. Maximize retirement contributions. According to ShareBuilder's Financial Freedom Survey, released in March, which conducted 1,008 interviews of adults 18 and older from Feb. 13 to Feb. 16., 57 percent of working Americans are concerned they won’t save enough money in time for retirement. By taking advantage of your employer’s retirement plan, you can work toward growing your retirement nest egg.

Beginning in 2015, employees will be able to contribute up to $18,000 annually to their 401(k) plans. Determine how much you can comfortably contribute. If possible, you may want to max out your 401(k) contributions and your employer match if you have one. If you can swing it, setting aside the full amount can be a great way to maximize your long-term investments.

3. Think about putting that holiday bonus to work. Examine your personal financial situation, and determine how you can best use the additional funds from a work bonus or holiday gifts. You may want to consider starting an investment portfolio, building an emergency fund or using that money to help a reach milestone like a down payment for a car or home.

Once your account is established, you could continue to grow it through automatic contributions. Programs, including ShareBuilder’s automatic investing plan, enable you to invest a set dollar amount on a regular basis and at a low cost. Becoming accustomed to putting away money on a regular basis is a critical first step – and it may build over time. Read the full article here..