1. "Know thyself" is not just a phrase placed over the oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece it is also a helpful place to start when considering your personal investing strategy. This simple phrase can be relevant and insightful when designing your investment strategy. The more you know about yourself, your needs, and investing itself then the better you will be able to design a strategy that fits your unique needs. In investing the phrase, "Knowledge is Power" has never been truer.

2. Time Invested is a concept that every investor should know. This means that you know how long you will be able to invest the money that is under consideration for investment. For example - let's say you have $5000 that you are considering investing. The first thing you need to ask yourself is what you will end up using that money for at the end of the investment term. For some situations this will be a clear-cut answer. Many people will be investing for a college education for their children. If this is the case than one can determine the "time invested" by gauging the age of the children now and determining how many years it will be until they enter college and when the money will be needed. The end result of this type of calculation is the "time invested".

3. Risk tolerance is the next concept in investing that must be understood. Risk tolerance recognizes the fact that certain people have an aversion to risk and may even suffer psychological consequences for having their money in certain riskier investments. Because of this there are investments that are simply not appropriate for certain personality types. If you happen to be one of these people then you should probably avoid the riskier investments. Understanding how comfortable you are with risk and how comfortable you are with seeing the value of your money go up and down on a regular basis is crucial to know before making investment decisions. If peace of mind is of the utmost importance to you when investing than avoiding anything that disrupts your peace of mind is crucial.

4. Investment Goal is the next factor that should be considered when determining where to invest. Having an investment goal is important because it tells us what kind of return we need to receive on a particular investment. For example-If we have a certain amount of money to invest and we know that our goal is to use it to fund a house purchase then we have an idea of how much money we need to have in the end to make that goal a reality. There are simple calculations to determine at what percentage that money needs to grow to meet that end goal. This also tells us the rate of return we need to get on our investment and will help lead us to the appropriate investment choices.