The first step to creating an investment plan is to lay out your financial goals. These can be anything from "buy my first couch" to "save for retirement." You can include as many goals as you'd like, ...

Fact checked by Betsy Petrick You probably know you should be investing, but you might not know where to start. Fortunately, ...

Learn about asset allocation and how to pick investments for your 401(k). ... plan. For example, ... so you should plan not to withdraw money until you are at least 59 1/2.

For example, if you start saving for retirement at age 40 instead of age 20, you would need to save almost five times as much each year to reach the same amount of capital by age 60.