Setting 2017 Financial Goals
As the year draws to a close its time to review our 2016 financial goals and plans.
So what were your financial plans in 2016, Did you achieve them? lets do this?
1. Take out your 2016 budget, review it, did you maintain a surplus budget during the year? What months? Why did you have a surplus? Did your income go up or down…..(same questions if your budget is a deficit)
2. Look up your 2016 net worth, did your become richer? What made you richer? More assets or less liabilities or both?
3. How was your debt picture in 2016? In numerical terms did your debt gone up or down? In terms of cost of the debt, are you still maintaining high cost debt on your balance sheet?
4. Review your 2016 retirement plan…is your pension contribution enough to fund at least 50% of your expenses during retirement? Have you calculated this?
5. What target saving plans did you have in 2016? Did you set up an Emergency Fund, or an Educational Fund?
6. What about your Investments in passive income generating assets? Is your portfolio making inflation adjusted returns?
7. Finally review your Estate Plan, have your protected and organized your assets to ensure your dependents remain in control of your assets, have you protected your assets and income by buying life insurance? Do you have a will?
Privately answer the question above. Your answers will determine your 2017 financial plans.
In 2017, its very important you start of on a well-planned financial slate, with the knowledge you have gained from these financial planning series on this blog. Key financial goals include
A. The first goal is to organize our assets and liabilities in a tidy, legal way, and protect our income generation ability, buy getting insurance.
B. Next is to pay down any expensive debt.
C. Next is to set up an emergency fund to cover 3-6 months of our Non-Discretionary expenses
D. Finally is to invest any surplus from our cash flow into income yielding assets.
It’s important, we follow this flow, don’t start to invest if you have no Emergency fund set aside.
What about our financial goals? Which goals have you set for yourselves in 2017?
A financial goal is a statement of financial intent, with figures to make it measurable, and a date to endure we have a target. I list sample financial goals below. You can edit them to suit your needs.
Goal 1: I plan to reduce my interest bearing debt from Nxxx to Nxxx by July 2017 or
Goal 2: I plan to set up an Emergency Fund of one month non-discretionary expense by March 2016, and to cover 6 months of non-discretionary expenses by November 2017.
Goal 3: I plan to build another source of Passive Income that covers 20% of my Discretionary Expenses by July 2017
Goal 4: I intend to increase my retirement saving by 10% starting by March 2017
Goal 5: to reduce my Discretionary consumption by 10% and channel saving to my investment account by July 2017
So look at Financial choices, then build your financial goals….pick an goal, put a target and a date. Remember if you don’t plan to succeed, then you cant succeed
If you have any questions on goal setting, do send me a message…regards
