How to Build an Investment Plan You Can Stick with

The mechanics of investing are simple. You open an account, deposit money, and click buy. The mental and emotional side of the equation is what’s challenging. Successful investing starts with building an investment plan that aligns each dollar at your disposal with its purpose.

Why investors struggle

One challenge investors face is the sheer number of investment options available. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and CDs are relatively easy to understand. Other investments like crypto, commodities, and structured notes add layers of complexity that can obscure fees, risk, and returns.

When too many choices collide with uncertainty, people often default to reaction or inaction.

Here are two examples of what people do:

• An investor sells everything in their retirement account during a market downturn because stock markets fall sharply, fear spikes, so they move to cash. (April 2025 is a perfect example). After markets recover, you seek advice, often too late, and end up buying back in at higher prices than where you sold.

• Another investor sits in cash waiting for the "right time" to invest, but never pulls the trigger. In hindsight, April 2025 was an excellent entry point. If you’re doing it on your own, you might not have the wherewithal to press buy. As a result, the moment passes, and the money never gets invested.

Principles for a successful plan

A strong investment plan does not try to predict the market. It creates guardrails for decision-making. These principles form the core of plans that hold up over time.

Asset allocation
Asset allocation is the decision about how much of your portfolio is invested in stocks, bonds, and other asset classes. This decision matters more than individual investment selection because it largely determines how your portfolio behaves in different market environments.

A thoughtful asset allocation balances your time horizon and tolerance for volatility. The right allocation is the one that aligns each investable dollar with its purpose, whether a down payment on a house or funding your retirement.

Asset location
Asset location refers to where investments are held across different types of accounts, such as taxable, IRA, and Roth accounts. Two portfolios with identical investments can produce very different after-tax results depending on how those investments are placed.

Placing tax-inefficient assets in tax-advantaged accounts and tax-efficient assets in taxable accounts can improve long-term outcomes without increasing risk. This is a subtle tuning knob to dial in your plan, but over time, it compounds.

Diversification matters
Diversification reduces the risk that any single investment or asset class can derail your plan. It does not eliminate volatility, but it helps smooth outcomes over time. A diversified portfolio is not about owning everything. It is about owning enough different sources of return so that no single outcome determines your success.

If you don’t understand it, don’t use it
If you cannot clearly explain how an investment works, what drives its returns, and when it might perform poorly, it probably does not belong in your portfolio. Understanding builds confidence, and confidence supports discipline during market stress.

Be consistent
Regular contributions, disciplined rebalancing, and patience through market cycles do more for long-term outcomes than trying to time the market. The best plan is one you can follow month after month, and year after year. The best tactic to remain consistent is automation. In that way, money gets invested regardless of whether markets are up or down, removing emotion from decision-making.

Avoid chasing performance
Buying what has already gone up and selling what has already gone down is one of the most damaging and common investor behaviors. Buy when assets are out of favor and trim when they become overweight.

Get advice before making a move
Most investing mistakes are made in moments of stress or excitement. Talking through decisions before acting can prevent costly errors. A second perspective often reveals whether a move aligns with your long-term plan or is simply a reaction to short-term noise.

If you’re looking for guidance on understanding mutual funds and how to evaluate them, I wrote this article as a guide.

Our process

When someone decides to work with us, the first step is transferring assets into our management. From there, the planning work begins.

We gather detailed information about your personal and financial situation, including income, savings, liabilities, time horizons, and risk tolerance. More importantly, we spend time understanding your goals. What the money is for matters most when determining how it is invested.

Using that information, we create an investment recommendation designed to align your assets with your objectives, while respecting your comfort with risk. We stay away from high-cost and overly complicated investments, too. The result is a plan that is structured, understandable, and built to be followed through market cycles.

Key frame of mind

Markets will always be a rollercoaster. Volatility is not a flaw in the system, but the price investors pay for long-term growth. The solution is to formulate a clear investment plan, stick to it, and get advice before making changes.

When the next period of uncertainty arrives, the plan should already be in place, helping you navigate it more confidently.