A financial plan is a written set of goals, followed by steps, strategies, timelines and habits for accomplishing these goals. It provides direction, gives you a benchmark from which to evaluate your progress, and helps you prioritize the most efficient use of your financial resources.
Set Goals:
List your priorities, wants and dreams. Set lofty goals. Ask yourself, what you are really spending your time, attention and energy to achieve and why.
Convert those dreams into the financial requirements to achieve those dreams, individually and in totality. Saying you want to be wealthy isn’t good enough. You need to come up with a workable plan and put it on paper explaining what wealthy means as a number, what you’ll do to achieve that number and by when.
Include as one of your primary goals to be financially independent.
- Financial Independence = Passive income > Total Expenses.
- Crossover Point – Point at which Passive income = Expenses
Unifying theory of personal finance: All decisions should be geared to moving you from being a laborer to being a capitalist. (Your Money Ratios)
Describe your vision of your financial life in:
- 1 year (short-term)
- 5 years (medium)
- 10 years (long-range)
- Retirement
Set specific goals:
Make goals specific and meaningful and, most importantly, reflections of your personal values. S.M.A.R.T. :: Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Relevant – Time Bound
Habits:
Create Habits that move you towards and past your goals. Habits are even better than goals. Enacting the correct habits ensures you meet your goals.
Determine now what you will do in Retirement:
You should have a goal in mind of what you will do (or not do) during your retirement. Work towards making the non-working part of your life as fulfilling as the working part.
Businesses follow a plan. Sometimes they have entire planning departments. The good ones do at least. Remember. You are a business. So do what businesses do!
Do you have a financial plan? If so, what’s in it? If not, why not? Let me hear from you.
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