If you’ve been considering investing in the stock market or creating a retirement portfolio for yourself, your first course of action may have been to seek out a financial planner to help you navigate the ropes. This is a great step, as these professionals are highly trained and experienced in this niche and can offer insight and expertise to help you make the right decisions. However, before you even schedule that appointment, there are simple steps you can take right now, as an individual investor, to help you better manage your money, make sound choices and lay the groundwork for a fruitful investment.

While it is in your best interest to seek counsel and guidance where you can get it, these four tips can help you get your financial feet wet before you jump all in. Let’s get started.

1. Keep a long-term perspective.

Especially for beginner investors, it can be tempting to throw all of your money at the most popular or well-performing stock on the market. After all, if so many people are going this route, you should too, right? Not so fast. Consider instead why you’re investing in the first place. Chances are, you are looking for steady, long-term savings that will build over time.

To this end, flash-in-the-pan stocks might look favorable in the current environment, but until they build up a successful performance history or prove they have the infrastructure to deliver on their promises, it’s wisest to stick with tried-and-true performers. Keeping your eye on the prize, even if it’s decades away, can help you ensure that over time, your ROI will be at the level you require. In the same vein, resist the urge to jump ship just because a particular stock is having an “off” month or even year. Remember, though the market does ebb and flow, it usually trends upward, so stick with it and maintain a future-focused perspective.

2. Remember to budget.

As you seek to make contributions toward your retirement account, it’s important to do so only if you truly understand where your money is going each month. Otherwise, you could be investing funds that need to be set aside for your mortgage or utility bill instead. To help you understand how you’re spending and where you could be saving, keep a monthly budget that tracks and categorizes all of your income and expenses.

From there, determine if there are any places where you’re currently spending money that you could instead put those funds into your investment account. For instance, you may notice that you spend upward of $500 each month on dining out. If you ate at home more and instead put that cash into your investment account, you can see compounded interest take effect almost immediately. Try to look at this process as less of a day-to-day challenge but an overall lifestyle change. That way, you’ll be more likely to stick with it, even when it gets difficult to maintain.

3. Take advantage of technology.

While arguably no mobile app or software platform can take the place of sitting down with a financial advisor face-to-face, there are so many technological resources at our disposal these days that it would be unwise to not tap into them. From apps that make budgeting and tracking your spending a breeze to online money management publications, all it takes is a simple internet search and you could be more well-informed in a matter of minutes.

An ideal approach is to use these resources to supplement your individual research and professional guidance rather than replace it. That way, you’ll have information at your fingertips to read through, peruse and digest even when the office is closed. As you do so, remember to take notes and take any questions you might have to your advisor when you get the opportunity. Even the most complex apps that virtually manage your money for you have low fees and are designed to be user-friendly and accessible enough for even the most novice investor to navigate.

4. Re-evaluate once a year.

While no one should play the market, it’s important to check in with your advisor at least once a year to take another look at your portfolio and make sure that the asset selections you’ve chosen are still aligned with your long-term investing goals. As you age, life circumstances change and what worked for you when you were in your early 20s might not be enough when you’re nearing retirement.

Talk about anything new that has come up since the last visit, such as the birth of a child or one about to attend college or get married. These big events aren’t just milestones in the life of your family -- they’re also critical benchmarks when it comes to financial planning. For instance, you may not be able to allocate as much money toward your investment account when you’re in the middle of paying college tuition for your entire brood of three. Then again, there may be seasons, such as empty nesting, when you’re able to contribute. Talking openly about these changes with your financial advisor is a great place to start.

Finding an Investment Roadmap That Works for You

At the end of the day, every investor is different. We all have different goals in mind, different ideas of what our golden years should look like and different methods and approaches we want to take when it comes to personal money management. Yet, ultimately, we are all pursuing this journey to make money, improve our financial security and save for our future. This list isn’t exhaustive but it is a good place to start before you get too deep into the process. By making small changes and adjustments now, you can be better positioned to reap the benefits down the road.