A major hurdle to getting started with saving and investing is trying to figure out exactly where to begin. With so much information and so many products available, trying to narrow things down can feel a bit overwhelming.

But it doesn’t have to be.

The simplest way to think about your money and how it can be used is to break it down into three different worlds: banking, insurance, and Wall Street. Almost everything you can do from a saving and investment standpoint can fall into one of these three worlds, and once you look at things with that in mind, it starts to get a little simpler to navigate.

Let’s talk a little about each of these worlds and how they are used to build a balanced portfolio for our clients.

We’ll start with banking, which is exactly what it seems. These are your safest investments like savings accounts and CDs. Putting your money here means you won’t have much worry about your account balance but it also limits your opportunities for growth because current returns are very low.

The next world is insurance, which covers many of the products you use to protect yourself and your family. The goal here is to take away risk and this world is designed to help you do just that. While this can benefit you tremendously, it also sometimes means a loss of liquidity for your portfolio. Are you okay with the tradeoff?

Finally, we have the Wall Street world. Many of your investments fall into this area and this has been the preferred path for generating growth on your money for a long time. The long-term results in the Wall Street world are quite positive, but are you going to be comfortable with all of ups and downs of the market?

As you learn more about the three worlds of money and how you can leverage each to build a successful retirement plan, remember that you’re always trying to strike the right balance with every decision you make. If you aren’t sure how to deploy your money, talk to an advisor and lean on their expertise and experience.