Learning to set investment goals is one of the most important things you can do as a new investor because it helps you keep track of where you have been, where you are, and where you are going as it pertains to your personal finances and your journey to financial independence.
作为一名投资新手，学会设定投资目标是你能做的最重要的事情之一，因为这有助于你追踪去过哪里、现在在哪里以及将来会去哪里，这关系到你的个人财务状况和你通往财务自由之旅。 

Here are the first 5 questions you need to ask yourself when setting investment goals for financial independence.
以下是在设定财务独立性的投资目标时你首先需要问自己的5个问题：

1．What is “your number”? 
“你的数字”是多少？

In order to reach financial independence from your portfolio, how much monthly passive income would it require if you were to withdraw no more than 3 percent to 4 percent of the principal value each year? 
为了从你的投资组合中实现财务独立，如果你每年提取不超过本金价值的3 %到4 %，每月需要多少被动收入？

That is the amount of money it would take if you wanted to live off your capital without having to sell your time to someone else while enjoying your desired standard of living.
这就是如果你想要靠自己的资本生活，而且是在没有把时间卖给别人的同时享受你想要的生活水平时所需要的金额。

2． What is your risk tolerance?
你的风险承受能力如何？

No matter how successful you are or how much money you amass, some people are wired in a way that fluctuations in their portfolio’s market value leads to enormous levels of emotional misery. [/en
无论多么成功或积攒了多少钱，有些人总会因为他们投资组合市场价值的波动而导致巨大的情绪痛苦。

[en]They’d rather end up with less money in the future, and enjoy a lower rate of compounding, but have a smoother ride. 

他们宁愿将来少赚一点钱，享受更低的复利率，但是生活更平稳。

Learning to be honest with yourself about where you fall on that spectrum is a big part of fiscal maturity. For example, though it can put you at a significant disadvantage under most circumstances, you don’t have to own stocks to build wealth. 
学会诚实地面对自己的处境是财务成熟的重要组成部分。例如，虽然在大多数情况下，低风险的理财方式可能使你处于明显的劣势，但你不必因为通过持有股票来积累财富而胆战心惊。

3．How do your moral and ethical values influence your portfolio management strategy? 
你的道德和伦理价值观如何影响你的投资组合管理战略？

Do you plan on spending all of your capital during your lifetime or do you desire to leave behind a financial legacy for your heirs and beneficiaries? 
你是打算在有生之年花掉所有的财产，还是想为你的继承人和受益人留下一笔遗产？

If you spend through your capital, it means you’ll be able to enjoy a higher withdrawal rate than you could support otherwise. 
如果你把你所有的资金都用在理财上，这意味着你可以享受比你能所需的更高的提现率。

If you don’t, you’ll get to take a small cut of the stream of passive income from your holdings but the principal should grow over time, provided it is prudently managed, serving as what effectively amounts to an endowment. 
如果不这么做，你可以从所持有的被动收入中抽取一小部分，但是只要管理得当，本金应该随着时间增长，也可以用来作为有效的养老金。

4. Will you limit your investments to your home country or expand globally? 
你会把投资限制在国内，还是在扩大至全球？

Despite the uptick in nationalism that has occurred beginning in the year 2016, the forces of globalization are real, they are powerful, and they mean than anyone with access to a brokerage account can become an owner of firms throughout the world.
尽管从2016年开始，民族主义有所上升，但全球化的力量是真实而强大的，这意味着任何拥有经纪账户的人都能成为全世界公司的所有者。

You can be a teacher in California and watch money come in from your holdings in Canada and France. 
你可以在加利福尼亚当一名教师，看着钱从你加拿大和法国的股份中入账。

While this introduces additional risks of permanent capital loss, as well as other risks such as currency risk and political risk, it also offers greater diversification and potential exposure to market performance that may turn out to be better on a risk-adjusted basis than that which would have been available from a domestic portfolio alone.
虽然这可能会引起永久性资本损失的额外风险，以及货币、政治等其他方面的风险，但它也提供了更大的多样化以及潜在的市场表现，如此一来，在风险调整基础上可能就比单独投资于国内要好。

5．What is motivating you to achieve financial independence? 
是什么促使你实现财务独立？

While some people are natural savers—they tend to accumulate without really needing a reason to do so as they live below their means and don’t really know what to do with the difference—most people are driven by some primary or secondary motivation that causes them to pile up capital. 
有些人是天生的储蓄者——他们往往不需要任何理由就能积累起财富来，因为他们的生活绰绰有余，他们也不知道该如何处理这种差异。但是大多数人都是在一些主要或次要动机的驱使下而积累了大量资本。 

It is extraordinarily important that you look within yourself and honestly answer the question, “Why?”. 
重要的是，你要审视自己并诚实地回答这个问题：“为什么？”。

Why are you compelled to save? 
你为什么必须要存钱?

What makes you want to invest rather than spending or donating the money that is flowing through your hands? 
是什么让你想投资，而不是花掉或捐出你手中的钱？

Often, by getting to the heart of that question, you can better design your portfolio to achieve whatever it is you are really pursuing.
通常，通过深入了解问题的核心，你就可以更好地设计你的投资组合，以实现你真正追求的目标。

 

（翻译：雅兰）