When it comes to financial success, what matters most is meeting your long-term goals.  Many investors, however, have tunnel-vision focusing only on performance as a measure of success instead of progress towards achieving their financial goals.

An index measures the price performance of a basket of securities and is often used as a benchmark to evaluate an investment’s performance. In the investment industry, popular belief is that the best thing you can do is beat an index.  But let’s look at why beating an index isn’t the only factor.

Suppose you are an investment superhero and you beat an index every quarter for your whole life!  Can’t get better than that, right?  However, what if you achieved this tremendous success, but didn't meet your financial goals.  That would not be so great!

The point being that investment performance or beating an index is only one factor with regards to meeting your personal financial goals! Meeting your financial goals has everything to do with careful, comprehensive investment planning.

Let’s look at the previous scenario in a completely opposite way.  Your superhero investment powers have now disappeared, and you underperform the index every quarter for your whole life. But because of careful investment planning, you still meet every one of your financial goals.  That is a much better result.

At Pharos Financial Advisors, we provide a comprehensive approach to investment planning that is consistent with your goals.  Contact us if you would like our assistance to help you achieve your financial goals.