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Over the past several years, the phrase "multi-tasking" has gained popularity. And you know just what this expression means if you constantly juggle work and family demands. But you might not realize that you might have to use your skills at managing different outcomes in another area of your life: investing.

Specifically, you will likely need to invest for both short-term and long-term goals. And you'll have to do it at the same time.

Your first step toward achieving this two-part investment strategy is to identify your short- and long-term financial goals. Your short-term goals will change over time. For example, when you're first starting out in your working life, you may want to make a down payment on a house. In the middle of your career, you may want to take your whole family on a round-the-world trip. And then, as you near retirement, you might decide to purchase a vacation home.

Your long-term goals, by definition, will likely remain fairly fixed. So, when you first have children, you might decide that you will save and invest for 18 years to help pay for college. And your biggest long-term goal will be to build resources for a comfortable retirement.

Can you work to achieve both short- and long-term goals - without hurting your progress toward one or another? Yes - but you will need to follow different investment strategies for different goals.

Let's suppose you're at the beginning of your career. You want to save for a down payment on your home, but you also want to start a retirement savings plan. What should you do?

For your down payment, you'll need to rely on investments that you can be fairly certain will provide you with the money you'll need in a relatively short period of time - perhaps three to five years. Consequently, you may want to consider certificates of deposit (CDs) or investment-grade bonds that mature at exactly the time you'll want to make your down payment. You'll receive regular interest payments, but even more importantly, you'll get your principal back - just when you need it.

During these same years, you may be contributing to your 401(k) at work, and, if you can afford it, to an IRA as well. And, since you are investing for retirement, which is likely many decades away, you need to take quite a different approach to the one you used when saving for a down payment. In short, you can afford to be a much more aggressive investor. That means you should include a mix of high-quality, growth-oriented stocks in your 401(k) or IRA. Will these stocks fluctuate in value over the years? Certainly. But the longer you hold these stocks, the greater the likelihood that you will overcome the short-term "down" periods and potentially achieve significant gains.

So, there you have it: One point in your life, two different goals, two different investment strategies. And you will find that you may need to follow this "dual-track" approach many times over the years. To coordinate your different investment approaches, you may want to work with an investment professional who can help you draw up a comprehensive plan for your financial future.

By choosing the right investments, you can move toward your short- and long-term goals at the same time. That's a "win-today," "win-tomorrow" situation.

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