Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/969285
When and How Often to Invest How often should you make contributions to your retirement account? While massage income can be unpredictable, the ideal schedule is every month. You want to do this to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging. Dollar- cost averaging is a fancy way of saying that if you invest a set amount of money every month, you will end up buying more shares of your mutual funds when the price is low and fewer shares when the price is high. Why is this good? Because you want to buy more shares while the price is low so that when the value goes up again your account is worth more. Since mutual funds are made up of stocks and bonds and the price (value) of stocks and bonds also go up and down, the value of your mutual funds will also go up and down, which affects the value of your retirement account. If you wait until the end of the year to invest or you invest with sporadic chunks of money, you risk missing the timing of the market and not getting as much growth as you would if you were to use dollar- cost averaging. In short, budget for a set monthly amount and stick to it. Ideally, you would set up an electronic auto-draft to transfer the money from your bank account into your retirement account each month. Then, you never need to second-guess yourself or even 92 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a y / j u n e 2 0 1 8 While you can set up accounts through banks and in some cases online, you're not likely to do as well from a performance and service standpoint this way. Talk to a professional and do it right. The majority of financial advisors won't charge you anything; they get paid from commissions based on your investment, so you won't ever need to write them a check. (If you don't have a financial advisor and the thought of finding one sounds intimidating, email allissa@ massagebusinessblueprint.com and we'll connect you with one who has experience working with massage therapists.)