FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR THE NEW YEAR IN 4 STEPS 1. Assess Your Financial Situation. Write down each liability you have (credit card, loan or mortgage), what the monthly payment is, the remaining balance, and the interest rate you’re paying. Then write down your assets: the amount you have in each savings or retirement account, the value of your mortgage, autos, etc. Subtracting the amount of your liabilities from your assets will give you the amount of your net worth. Doing this type of assessment will tell you where you’re at financially and give you a springboard in which to make and reach your financial goals. 2. Create Goals. Now that you know your financial situation, you need to figure out where you want to go from here. Pick two or three primary goals, based on what the more crucial situation is. Do you need to pay down debt? Do you need to save for retirement? Do you need to stop spending so much and find the leaks in your financial ship? Ask yourself these questions, and then make two or three accompanying goals, such as: “pay off credit card debt”, or “increase retirement savings by X amount of dollars. 3. Make a Plan for Achieving Those Goals. This is where the rubber meets the road yall. Now that you’ve determined what your 2015 financial goals are, you need to make a detailed plan for achieving those goals. If your goal is to reign in spending, sit down and make a budget, determining what expenses you have each month and whether or not you want to continue paying for those things. Develop a spend tracking sheet to see where your money goes in 2015. Increase your payroll retirement savings in order to increase your overall retirement savings in 2015. By developing a concrete plan for achieving your goals, you’re more likely to reach those goals instead of simply abandoning them come February. 4. Be Willing to Change Your Plan if Need Be. One of the things that kept Veronica and I from sticking to our financial plan for so long was that the minute an obstacle kept us from reaching our goal, we’d get discouraged and give up. We know now that the better way is to be prepared for obstacles and to be determined to make a plan for navigating around them. The important part is that you never quit working to reach your goals. If obstacles come, pick yourself up and just move on. A solid financial life isn’t only for the elite: it’s for every person who is willing to put in the time and effort to make their financial plan happen. The choice is yours. You can decide to be one of the “have nots” or to be one of the “haves” by choosing to walk away from what “everyone else” is doing and create a secure financial future for yourself and your family. Start the new year off right!
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:26:59 +0000
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