Are You Prepared for Your Financial Future? Use the SEC’s Investor Preparedness Checklist to Find Out

Are you prepared for your financial future? That’s the question the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) is asking investors. To help investors get started with creating their own saving and investing plan, OIEA developed an investor preparedness checklist to empower them. In addition to encouraging investors to start early and go to Investor.gov before they invest, the checklist reminds investors to: identify goals and create a financial plan; pay off high-interest debt; participate in company retirement plans and take full advantage of employer matching; do a background check on any investment professional; understand risk tolerance; understand fees; research investments; maintain a diverse portfolio; and avoid investment opportunities that sound too good to be true.