Financial Priorities - Pyramid - Morningstar

Ms. Benz from Morningstar proposes an investment pyramid which has as basis "having a goal" and only at the top the "investment selection".

So the ranking in terms of priorities are as follows:

1. The Basis: Setting and Prioritizing Your Financial Goals 
2. Managing Your Saving and Spending Rate
3. Your Asset Allocation
4. Your Own Behavior 
5. Managing for Tax Efficiency   
6. The Top: Making Investment Selections
   

Food for thought... although turning stones to find interesting companies and stocks is more fun😉
I would also add Risk and Money Management as important topics in this process.

Link to the article:
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=789005