Summer holidays are already around the corner. Many citizens can now only think about when to set foot on the beach and eat a paella at the beach bar. Enjoying, resting and disconnecting from work are the objectives most desired by everyone this season, especially after another year marked by the pandemic. However, you should never completely disconnect, especially from finances. It is not going to be that we have a scare in our pocket.
Traditionally the summer months are difficult for the financial markets. Many investors go on vacation and trading on the stock market is reduced. Any small movement that in winter would go unnoticed now can cause a real earthquake in the price of a company. Hence, many years ago a famous advice emerged in the financial world of Sell ​​in May and go away (sell in May and go).
In order to make you more comfortable with your investments, we will tell you five things that you cannot lose sight of about your finances during the holidays.
1. Make a financial plan
The best way to avoid a scare on vacation is to have previously designed a financial plan, which provides peace of mind to the saver during the summer months. If the investor has done their homework before, going on vacation shouldn’t be a problem that involves changing the investment strategy.
“The main thing when making an investment is to be clear about the vital objective for which it is invested, be it retirement, the children’s studies or the purchase of a home. Depending on one or the other, the investment time horizon will change.
A financial plan must be drawn up according to the vital objective from the beginning and if it is well drawn, the vacation period should not worry, “explains Eduardo Suárez , financial advisor at Mapfre Gestión Patrimonial, an entity present on the Finect platform.
Long-term investors shouldn’t worry about increased volatility in financial markets. “When the holidays are being organized, we must not fall into the trap that they suppose an economic hole, which then penalizes us in the future and the entire financial plan goes to ruin,” says Suárez.
If a client wants to keep abreast of the evolution of their investments during the summer, they can use the TradingView application , which allows you to follow quotes, market indices and products such as investment funds and ETFs, among others.
2. Schedule contributions to funds
Another possibility that allows you to disconnect during the summer period is to schedule periodic contributions to investment funds. This option is the most recommended for long-term investors.
Entities such as Caixabank, BBVA, Bankinter or Mapfre allow clients to track the investments they have contracted from their telephone device. Applications usually have a notification service , which keeps them informed of any changes that occur.
3. Create alerts for the falls of investment funds
If the investor prefers to keep abreast of his investments in the summer, he can choose to create alerts on his mobile phone. These will inform you about falls in those mutual funds in which you have invested.
In this case, financial entities such as Bankinter, ING, Singular Bank and Renta 4 have this type of tool to alert about price changes in the investment funds that the client has contracted.
4. Be on the lookout for card fraud
The use of bank cards has exploded during the pandemic. With the arrival of summer, you should be aware of them to avoid fraud.
When making a payment at an establishment, you should not lose sight of your bank card at any time to avoid surprises. If you go to a restaurant to eat, you can ask the waiter to bring the dataphone to the table to pay the amount.
If you want to buy a product online, you always have to do it through a secure site. The easiest thing is to check that the address of the page in question starts with https. In addition, many online payments involve double verification, through the mobile application or a code.
It is always advisable to periodically review the movements that have been generated with the card. If the saver detects an unknown charge, he must immediately notify his financial institution.
In the case of theft or loss of the card, the customer must immediately notify the bank so that it can be canceled and file the corresponding complaint with the police. Once this is done, if the bank does not want to return the defrauded amounts, it must be claimed before the entity’s customer service and, if there is no response, before the consumer authorities.
5. Diversify the portfolio and create alerts for opportunities
Finally, the most classic recommendation from finance experts is to diversify your portfolio to avoid problems. An investor with a well-diversified portfolio should not worry about an eventual drop in the price of a share, as another asset can help offset that loss.
“There are many alternatives in the market to give returns to savings (mutual funds, unit linked, pension plans, ETFs, stocks, etc.) and have a diversified portfolio of financial products with a medium-long-term vision. that tranquility that at the beginning is not had “, affirms Suárez.
If the client has designed their own portfolio, summer can be a good time to access opportunities. Thanks to these price variations, the investor can invest in a company whose shares have fallen without prior justification. Now, it is convenient to be well advised before making a decision because perhaps there is an objective reason behind that price variation.
In this case, the Plus 500 application allows the investor to create price alerts so that he knows when the values ​​reach the desired prices for their purchase or sale.
