You must first set financial goals before you can achieve them. Setting goals is a great way to set yourself up for success in all aspects of life, including finances. No matter what your goals are, they are an absolute necessity so you can remind yourself what you’re working towards. Without having a goal in mind, you could be recklessly spending money.
Successfully set goals, then make a habit of checking and revising them. Make sure you set new goals every year, month, or even every week if you think it’s necessary. Here are a few financial goals you should set for yourself.
1. Improve Your Credit
The first financial goal you should set for yourself is to get your credit in check. Make sure you know what your credit score is and the factors that can affect it. If your credit score is lower than you would like it to be, you can take steps to improve it, such as paying off debt, getting new credit cards, or keeping your credit utilization low.
2. Do Your Taxes Early
Tax season always seems to be around the corner, even if it’s July, so make sure you do your taxes early. Getting your taxes done early will give you an estimate of how much you’ll owe or be getting back. Therefore, you can determine your budget on the amount you’ll be getting back, or on how much you owe.
3. Set a Budget
Whether you live paycheck to paycheck or have money left over after paying your bills, it’s always a good idea to set a monthly budget for yourself so your spending doesn’t go overboard. Setting a budget allows you to be disciplined. It will help you understand how much money you can spend or put into savings.
You can set a budget for everything from personal spending to buying a car. However, make sure your budget is realistic so you know you can afford necessities.
4. Make a Savings Goal
One important financial goal is your savings goal. This amount of money you save can be anything; just make sure it’s realistic. For example, if you can’t even manage to save $100/month after paying your bills, don’t expect to have $10,000 at the end of the year.
A savings goal allows you to give yourself something to work towards, and you can understand if you need to make a purchase or not. After you’ve hit your goal, make sure to set another savings goal so that you can be disciplined when it comes to saving money.
5. Plan for Retirement
You don’t want to be 70 and still working a desk job. Make sure you begin planning for retirement as soon as possible. Currently, most millennials don’t have a good outlook when it comes to retirement, and many don’t have much saved. You should plan for retirement right now so you can retire as soon as possible.
Planning for retirement early means you’ll have a retirement investment portfolio, which means you won’t have to stress about money later in life when things could be more challenging due to age, health, or economic reasons.
6. Have Multiple Income Streams
Even if you have a job that pays well, you might want to consider having multiple streams of income to cover you in case something happens to that job. One of the income streams can be a part-time job that allows you to put all of your earnings in retirement, while your full-time job allows you to pay your bills and buy the things you want.
You can also start a side business rather than working for someone else. The extra cash flow can take the financial pressure off of you and can be used to fund your retirement, pay off debt, or increase your savings.
7. Start Spending Less Than You Earn
If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, there might be ways you can start spending less so you can have a little bit leftover after your bills and purchases. By learning to live on less than what you earn, you’ll always have an emergency fund and be able to save your money for a rainy day. While this is easier said than done for many individuals, try cutting out the things you don’t need in your life, such as expensive hair care products or streaming services.
8. Create a Will
No matter how old you are, you must leave your house in the care of someone else in the event of your death. A will ensures that your loved ones and even pets are taken care of. You can learn how to write a will online and ensure that everyone you love is covered and your finances are handled as you would like after you pass away.
9. Start Investing
Investing is a great way to earn a passive income online. That means you can make more money without putting in too much effort. There are tons of ways to invest, whether it be in the stock market or a retirement fund that passively grows. Trading stocks can be tricky, so you must learn about the stock market before you start investing.
Final Thoughts
No matter what your financial goals are, make sure you stick to them, become obsessive about them. If your goal is to grow your savings account, check your account every day so you can remind yourself of your goal and work to achieve it. Once you see you’ve hit one goal, you can set another one for yourself. Make your first goal simple so you can achieve it quickly. Once you reach your first goal, you’ll be more motivated to set additional goals to achieve.
About the Author:
Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys San Diego life, traveling, and music.