You may be regularly setting aside a portion of your income, each month, to contribute towards savings and investments for several years. This amount grows to become a substantial sum, which you must handle with care.

You can revisit your investment portfolio each year, so you can check if everything is on track. So, you must handle your investments with care. Revisiting your Investment Portfolio on a yearly basis will give you a chance to check if everything is on track, so you can improve your investments and maximise your gains from them.

Here are a few steps that you can take to ensure that your investments grow in 2018.

Revisit your investment plan

Your financial goals are bound to change over the years and your investment habits should change as well. Start by reviewing what worked for you last year, and what didn’t. Then, carry out a yearly analysis of your investment plan and see whether it is relevant and make tweaks to your investment plan based on what you learned last year. This will help you take stock of the situation and will allow you to adjust your investments so that you can achieve your goals without falling prey to the same mistakes.

Check if your investments serve your current needs

While looking at your investment plan, make sure that your portfolio caters to your various needs. For example, starting a fixed deposit now will help you generate wealth for your child in the long term. Similarly, if you feel like your parents’ healthcare needs are growing, ensure that you invest in a manner that takes this into account. You will have to consider the right health insurance policy, of a sufficient amount and according to prevailing healthcare costs.

Once you are sure that your investments are catering to your and your family’s current needs, look at the overall balance of your portfolio. An ideal portfolio should have both high risk and low-risk investments to accomplish high growth rate of funds and security. Additionally, your investments should also offer some liquidity. While investments like fixed deposits and mutual funds will help you create wealth, others like gold ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) and equity will offer easy access to funds.

Evaluate your budget for 2018

To improve your investments, you must also pay attention to your budget. Start by evaluating how much you are currently earning and spending. This will tell you how much you have left over to invest. Accordingly, choose instruments that will give you the best results for your corpus. This exercise will also indicate if you need to curb your expenses to an extent so that you can save and invest more. Your goal should be to set aside a larger sum for investment than the previous year, so see how best you can achieve this.

Ensure that you incorporate tax planning

Several investments give you tax benefits. For example, the amount you pay towards an insurance premium, Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) and certain fixed deposits allow you to claim up to Rs.1.5 lakh as a deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. So, based on your income tax slab and investments, understand the deductions that you are eligible for. Then, ensure that you file your taxes correctly, by providing the right supporting forms, so that you can claim this amount in full. This will allow you to hold on to a greater portion of your investment.

If you find that you aren’t saving on tax with your investments, consult a financial expert or a personal finance manager. With professional help, you will be able to understand how to invest and the measures you need to take to ensure that you enjoy bigger tax breaks.

Add a stable investment option to your portfolio

While it is a good practice to make the most of the returns offered by high-risk investments such as shares, it is equally important that you focus on adding stability and assured returns to your portfolio. One way of doing this is to invest in fixed deposits. They not only help you create wealth for the long term, but they also balance your portfolio. Since they aren’t linked to the market, they are extremely dependable and offer returns that you can count on. So, whether you invest in it for your child’s future, or to create wealth to buy an asset such as a car, Investing in Fixed Deposits will serve you well.

They are also an excellent way to save for retirement, a goal you should focus on every year when you invest. You can set aside an FD to generate a corpus for post-retirement expenses. And, if you are to retire in 2018, remember to invest your EPF savings and your gratuity amount in fixed deposits. By choosing a non-cumulative option, you can not only grow your wealth but also get regular income by choosing a monthly payout plan.

Keeping these tips in mind will ensure that your investments this year are an outcome of careful planning and consideration. When you adopt this approach, you’ll find that your investments are not only earning you better results but are also tailored to your personal circumstances and needs.