With a new year comes adventures, everyday life, challenges, and unexpected joys, and another year of gaining wisdom. A benefit of meeting periodically with clients is seeing the strides made when sometimes they feel events barely register as meaningful progress. Stepping back and looking at the big-picture plan allows you to see your progress as well as where to make course corrections. This is one of the many benefits clients receive when they partner with us – they have a financial planner to guide and champion them along the path.
Helping clients identify life goals, review progress, and achieve their dreams are highlights of our work. So, what key components will help you reach your financial planning goals this year (and every year)?
1. One Step at a Time. Some goals might be far off in the future or feel overwhelming – like retirement, changing jobs, buying a new/different house, planning for children, planning an international vacation. If you tend to say, “I’ll focus on that when I finish with X, Y or Z” – don’t. It’s far easier to accomplish a goal if small, consistent steps toward the goal are made over (sometimes) long periods of time. There is not only the financial benefit of the time value of money, but it also gives you time to adjust and refine the goal as the event approaches rather than scrabbling or being forced into decisions last minute.
2. Know Your Options. A benefit of the financial planning process is having the information to make more informed decisions. Maybe you’ve had your heart set on a particular vehicle purchase, vacation location or retirement date. That’s great and might be the target, but markets go up and down, tax laws change, and other options become available. Having a periodic conversation with your Planner helps you gain new information that might change your opinion, uncover other opportunities, or reinforce the direction you’re headed so you can move forward with confidence.
3. Prioritize. As the saying goes, sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomach. There will often be more goals than we have time, money, or energy for so it’s important to prioritize. It doesn’t mean a particular goal won’t be accomplished; it just might need to be on an adjusted timeline. Priorities may need to be adjusted for a variety of reasons – internal motivations and external events – so be open to change if needed. Prioritizing helps you know where to focus the time, energy and money you have to allocate.
4. Keep Going. Some goals might take a while to achieve, but it’s worth it in the end. There might also be some failures along the way or moments of getting stuck. That’s normal.
Thomas Edison experimented with thousands of filament materials before designing the electric light bulb. He kept going …
… I couldn’t afford to go away to college so I started at a community college, then got my professional licenses and CFP® designation and then finished my Bachelor’s degree. It took me 10 years, but I kept going!
5. Be Prepared for Opportunities. When you’re clear on a goal and the end vision, it’s easier to adjust, especially when an opportunity you’re not expecting shows up. Maybe this is a promotion, early retirement package, invitation to go on a trip to somewhere other than where you had imagined, or a tax credit that lets you purchase a home or car or business sooner than planned. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with the unexpected opportunities that will be presented to you. Be prepared because you never know when opportunity will knock.
At our firm, we work from the mindset of “It’s Possible”. Whatever the “IT” is for you, we want to help you achieve your goals. All while throwing in a good dose of reality along with encouragement and information so you can move ahead with confidence and support.
Wherever you are in your financial journey, thank you for sharing your dreams and partnering with us to make them a reality. Cheers to 2024!
