Be an Investor, Not a Collector: Apple Inc. (AAPL), American International Group Inc (AIG)

Whether you’re under- or over-diversified, you are probably only doing what you thought you were supposed to do. You’ve spent a lot of energy, time, and even money trying to pick the right investments. Unfortunately, your efforts may have created the exact opposite of what you wanted to accomplish.

Remember, you’re not a collector. You’re an investor. You want stocks (or funds) that get you closer to the financial goals you’ve set for yourself. You also need to make sure that what you own doesn’t expose you to greater risk than you can handle, again based on your goals.

The end result should be a portfolio that reflects those goals, not the collection of magazines on your coffee table.

A version of this post appeared previously at The New York Times.

Carl Richards is a financial planner and the director of investor education for the BAM ALLIANCE, a community of more than 130 independent wealth management firms throughout the United States. Visit Behavior Gap for more of Carl’s sketches and writings. Carl doesn’t own shares of any companies mentioned.

The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. The Fool owns shares of and has bought calls on AIG. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of AIG and Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a covered bull call spread position in Apple.

The article Be an Investor, Not a Collector originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Carl Richards.

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