Adult IQ — Investing for Different Ages

Your Life Changes • Your Priorities Change • Your Investing May Need to Change Too

The way you think about money at 20 probably isn't going to be the same way you think about it at 40, 50 or 60.

Your income can change. You may take on a mortgage, start a family, pay down debt, change careers or start thinking seriously about retirement. All of these things can affect your financial priorities and the way you think about investing.

The Adult IQ Investing for Different Ages guide is designed to help you understand how investing considerations can change throughout your life and the questions you may want to ask yourself along the way.

Real-Life Situations This Guide Helps You Understand

A lot of people want to invest but aren't sure where to start, how much they should be putting away or whether the approach they're taking still makes sense as their life changes.

Others find themselves following financial headlines, social media advice or someone else's investment strategy without stopping to consider whether it actually fits their own circumstances.

This handbook looks at situations such as:

• Starting later than planned — Understanding some of the considerations when you haven't started investing as early as you wanted.

• Investing while paying down debt — Understanding how competing financial priorities can affect your decisions.

• Not knowing where to start — Learning the basic questions to consider before opening an investment account or choosing an investment.

• Changing careers or income — Understanding how major changes in employment or income can affect your financial priorities.

• Starting a family — Considering how children, education, housing and other responsibilities can change your priorities.

• Approaching retirement — Understanding why your time horizon and financial goals become particularly important as retirement gets closer.

• Worrying you haven't saved enough — Identifying areas of your overall financial picture that may deserve closer attention.

• Making emotional decisions — Understanding how fear, excitement, headlines and short-term market movements can influence decisions.

• Never reviewing your investments — Recognizing why your financial situation and goals may need to be revisited as your life changes.

• Overlooking investment costs — Understanding why fees and expenses matter, particularly over longer periods.

What You'll Learn

Inside this handbook, you'll explore investing considerations for:

• Young adults getting started

• People building their careers

• Individuals and families balancing multiple financial responsibilities

• Mid-life investors

• People approaching retirement

• People already living in retirement

You'll learn how factors such as:

• Income

• Debt

• Emergency savings

• Major purchases

• Family responsibilities

• Time horizon

• Retirement goals

• Inflation

• Risk

• Investment fees

• Diversification

• Asset allocation

can all play a role in how you think about investing.

You'll also learn about compound growth, retirement accounts, reviewing existing investments, preparing for retirement and thinking about income and preservation of assets later in life.

What This Book Is Really About

There isn't one investment strategy that automatically works for everyone.

What makes sense for someone starting their first job may be very different from what someone approaching retirement needs to think about.

That doesn't mean you need to constantly change your investments every time something in your life changes. It means your financial circumstances are worth reviewing from time to time.

This handbook isn't about telling you what you should invest in at a particular age.

It's about helping you understand the questions that become important at different stages of life so you can make decisions based on your own circumstances rather than simply copying someone else's approach.

Life Doesn't Follow a Financial Timeline

Sometimes people start investing early. Sometimes they don't.

Some people have steady careers. Others change jobs, start businesses, raise families, experience financial setbacks or deal with periods where investing simply isn't possible.

Real life doesn't always follow the financial plan you had when you were younger.

The important thing is understanding where you are now, what you're working toward and what financial decisions deserve your attention next.

Build Your Adult IQ

Investing isn't just about numbers on a screen.

It's connected to your income, your responsibilities, your goals and the stage of life you're in.

Adult IQ — Investing for Different Ages gives you practical information to help you understand how those factors can affect the way you think about investing throughout your life.

The goal isn't to have all the answers at every age. It's to understand the right questions to ask as your life changes.

Financial Disclaimer

This handbook provides general educational information about investing and financial planning. It is not financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice and does not provide personalized investment recommendations. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Individual circumstances vary, and an approach that may be appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another. Consider your circumstances and consult a qualified financial professional where appropriate.