If you invest now, you’ll have a better chance to realizing a return on your investment. According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security benefits will only cover about 33% of the cost of the average American’s retirement. The rest will have to be filled in by personal savings and return on investments.

There’s more to invest for than retirement. Investing can also help you buy a home, travel, start a dream project or even pay your bills in the future. If you invest in the stock market, you’ll have a better chance of watching your investment grow over the long term. And if you invest in bonds, you can benefit from a steady stream of income.

Investing is a long-term venture. Short-term profits are elusive – and often illusory. The longer investment horizon you’re willing to cultivate, the better chance you will have to realize extended annualized returns on your investments.

When you’re at different stages of your life, you will likely have different investment goals. When you’re young and have most of your earnings years ahead, you may want to build up capital to safeguard your future. Later, if you get married and have children, you may prioritize supporting your family as well as planning for your children’s college educations. As you get older, you’ll likely focus on financing your retirement. When mapping out your investment plans, consider which primary goals you want to focus on at your current age.

Popular investment options today include stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs, which are all registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Johannesburg stock Exchange (JSE) and London stock exchange (LSE).

• Stocks are shares in the ownership of a company. Also known as equities, they’re heavily regulated by the government and most can be bought and sold on stock exchanges.
• Bonds are based on debt, and they’re created when an investor loans money to a company or governmental entity to finance projects and operations. They’re known as fixed incomeinstruments because typically they pay out a regular (fixed) amount (income) to investors.

• Mutual funds are investment funds that take money from many investors and put it into stocks, bonds, money-market funds or other securities or assets. When you buy a mutual fund share, you own a piece of the fund’s investment portfolio.
• Exchange traded funds (ETFs), like mutual funds, are invested in stocks, bonds, money-market funds or other securities or assets, but investors don’t own direct shares of these funds. Only authorized participants (financial institutions who double as broker-dealers) own direct shares of these investment funds. But these authorized participants in turn offer shares to investors that can be bought on a stock exchange.

To learn about the net asset and issuance flows of mutual funds and ETFs, visit the Investment Company Institute.

When you’re considering your options for investing with Trade Fluids, either through a financial professional or direct access, it’s important to consider the benefits associated with each option. Review this investing checklist before you make your final decision:

• Do I have an investment strategy?
• Do I have an investment budget?

• Have I weighed my available options? Have I considered the full range of investment solutions?
  Do I understand both the risks and rewards associated with a particular investment?
  What’s my risk tolerance? How much am I willing to lose?
• Have I read the prospectuses of the products I’m interested in investing in, so I understand all of the ins and outs?
• Have I discussed any ideas or concerns I have about investing or about a certain product with an investment professional? Did I take notes during the meeting for future reference?