If you are considering a new type of investment account and you want to keep accurate statements and details about what you are investing, and what the returns are, you need to be organized diligent with keeping receipts. Unfortunately, even the best computer systems and banks make mistakes when it comes to handling accounts and keeping balances, and you don't want to lose money.
You want to talk with your broker or financial planner regularly to ask about changes that are needed, and to make sure your investments are projecting as expected. Here are a few different things you want to consider when you start to check your account online regularly, and when you are depositing your money and looking to see how well your investments do.
Service Fees, Terms and Statements
Each month go through your account statements and make sure that the service fees for your account or your broker's fees are accurate with what the terms of your contract show they should be. You don't want to overpay in fees each month and miss it because a small percentage of overpaid fees monthly could turn into a lot of money at the end of the year.
Certificate of Deposit
Every time you choose to make a deposit into one of your marketing accounts or investment accounts, make sure that you ask for a certificate of deposit to store for your own records, in person or electronically. Print it out and keep a record in your filing cabinet or where you keep such documents so you have it on hand if your balance doesn't show accurately, or if there is a problem.
Tax Information
Monitor your tax information and your profits to see if you are going to owe a lot of money at the end of the year, and ask your financial planner if you can have your taxes taken out of your profit or account balance when you cash out or make a huge return. You don't want to end up owing a ton of money at the end of the year when it's tax time.
It's smart to start investing your money as early as possible, but you need to make sure you're are keeping track of your money and monitoring what your financial professional (such as one from Rio Grande Credit Union) is doing for you. Keeping track of these things will help make it easier to see what exactly is going on with your money.
Share
