As you invest in different investment vehicles, it is possible you forget some details of your investments such as the maturity date, the investment goal, and the likes.
In my last article, I gave a good insight on what to invest in. In case you missed it, you can catch it up here.
As you invest regularly, you should also keep track of your investments.
There are several apps out there to help you track your investments (a Google search will help); however, you can create one yourself with the use of a spreadsheet app e.g., Microsoft Excel.
Basically, your investment tracker should cover the investment amount, the date of investment, the maturity date of the investment, the investment goal and the ROI expected (where applicable)- Note well that ROI are mostly quoted annually, except otherwise stated, you should treat your interest rates as yearly. So, if you are investing for six months, you would have to prorate the interest rates for six months (For example, if the interest rate for a year is 12% and you would be investing for six months, you would be having 6% (6/12 * 12%) as your ROI for your investment period.
If you are good with spreadsheet, you can insert formulas in your workbook. This eases the whole process and gives you more accuracy.
You should also track your investments regularly, say monthly. You can pick a day on the month (to aid you in consistency). For example, you can pick the 30th day of every month to go through your investment tracker. You can fill in new investments on this day and also check out those which would be maturing soon and then, put a reminder on your calendar for that month.
Do you want a free Investment Tracker? Send a mail to hello@thefinancialliterate.com
To your financial independence and freedom!
