How to Set up Your Financial Goals
December 30th, 2005 (Financial Success)
What does your financial future look like? Have you set up goals that projects years ahead of today? If not, then you should be creating one year goals, five year goals, and even ten or twenty year goals.
Have you thought about how much money you wish to have by the time you are 65 years old? Do you have retirement goals? Do you know how much you will have to save in order to reach these goals?
These are all questions that very few of us actually ask ourselves, let alone write them down on paper. It has been said that people will do more planning more for a week’s vacation then they will their entire lives. Think about that for a moment. We put more effort and energy into setting goals and planning leisure activities than we do for the lives in which we have only one shot at. It’s no wonder why there are so men and women out there who are lost without direction.
You must have vision, clarity, and a firm grasp on exactly what you want! The first question most people ask me is “How do I find out what my financial goals are?” It is very simple: Just ask! Simply ask yourself specific financial questions that will turn out in the form of a ‘financial analysis’.
Below are a few examples of questions that would help form a financial outline of where you want to go. By writing these answers down on paper and planning the steps it would take from where you are now to where you want to be, you will have accomplished more planning than 80% of people do in a lifetime.
1. How much money do you want to make next month?
2. How much money do you want to make within 1 year?
3. Where would you like to see your career and your income level in 3 – 5 years?
4. What are the options available to getting your income to your desired level?
5. How much money will it take for you to retire from? And at what age?
6. What is your plan when it comes to saving and investing to reach retirement?
7. By breaking down your plan backwards, how much do you have to make each month, each week, each day?
8. Are you taking action today from your working plan above?