Summary of How Much Risk Can You Tolerate?

As the ancient Greek sages said, Know thyself.

Learning your risk tolerance takes a certain amount of self-therapy. You have to look inward at not only your hopes and dreams, but also your fears of loss and your ability to bounce back from hard times.

There are plenty of online tools that can help you gauge your risk tolerance. Try doing several of them to get a better sense of where you stand. Alternatively, you can work with a financial planner, who will also have tools to help you learn your risk tolerance. The end goal is to know yourself, and once you know yourself, you can direct your financial planning better.