SETTING LIFETIME goals should not exclude the setting of your financial goals. Many persons mistakenly believe that planning their life and financial goals are separate, however, this should not be so, as both are inter-dependent. By creating a balance between the two, one can gain overall perspective that shapes all aspects of your decision-making.
As with everything else in life, without financial goals and specific plans to meet them, we will drift along and leave our future to chance, therefore, it is suggested that persons first identify their life and financial goals, then work towards them cohesively. To give a balanced coverage of all the important areas in your life, try to set goals in these basic areas:
Family
Education
Career
Health
Social life
Four steps to achieving your financial and life goals
1. Identify and write down your life and financial goals, which could be sending your children to university, buying a new car, saving for a down payment on a house, going on vacation, paying off credit card debt, or planning for retirement.
2. Educate yourself! Read financial magazines or books about investing, or surf various investment websites. With a little effort you can learn enough to make educated decisions that will increase your net worth.
3. Set a five-year plan, one-year plan, and one-month plan of progressively smaller goals and finally, set a daily to do list of things that you should do to achieve your life goals. By setting up this structure of plans, you can break even the biggest life goal down into a number of small tasks that you need to do each day, to reach the lifetime goals.
4. Provide a system of evaluation and revision of your progress. Review this progress monthly, quarterly, or at any other interval you feel comfortable with, but at least semi-annually, to determine if your financial and life goals are being realised and make adjustments accordingly.
While it is encouraged that you set concrete, specific goals with a timeline, as a successful path to reaching your goals, please don't get the idea that you are locked in, once you have identified the goals. Unplanned circumstances such as sickness, additions to the family, separation from family, or winning some money may result in a shift of goals. Be ready to make adjustments where necessary.
To further discuss investing and the many options we have available, contact DB&G at info@mydbg.com or toll free at 1-888-CALL DBG.
Disclaimer: All information contained in this article has been obtained from sources that DB&G believes to be accurate and reliable. All opinions and estimates constitute the author's judgment as of the date of the article. No warranty as to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this article and as to the opinions based thereon is given or made by DB&G. DB&G and/or its employees or directors and/or any associated person may have an interest in, or interest in the acquisition or disposal of, the securities or class of securities mentioned herein. Call 1-888- CALL DBG if in doubt about the content of this article. Decisions based on information contained in this article are your sole responsibility.
