Step One: How to Start Setting Financial Goals
For most of you, paying bills on time is something you don’t worry about. Thankfully. You have a roof over your head, shoes on your feet, and before this continues to sound like it was written by a Dr. Seuss enthusiast, you may have some money building up in your accounts. When your basic needs are met and paid for, then what?
“Tell me what to do with my life” is usually the more dramatic attempt at articulating, “I don’t know what to plan for.”
While we may not be able to tell you what to do with your life, we can help you get started. No, really. You need a worksheet? Check. You need a no-holds-barred talking to? We’ve got that too. You need a few laughs along the way? Say less.
What should I do with my life?
The first step in getting your [financial] sh*t together is deciding what it is you want. And we’re actively trying to say that without sounding like Noah from The Notebook.
Check out last year’s Top 10 Goals list for some of our favorite client goals we’ve helped them achieve. Nothing is off limits. We’ve seen anything from always flying business class on flights longer than 2.5 hours to investing in female-founded startups.
Dream big. Now’s your chance.
How to make a plan
Alright, it’s game time. Remember the worksheet? We’ve got a goal-setting worksheet that gives you a gentle shove in the right direction. If that’s your thing, here you go. Write down your goals so that you have something to point back to and be proud of. And not just flippantly. Your goals are clear and laid out right on the page.
It may be easiest for you to think about how you want to spend your last 20+ years. Do you want to be on an ocean? How about a lake house in the mountains? What about a few condos along the intracoastal you can take a boat to? Yeah. Let yourself think about your best case scenario.
Then, think about how you’d like to spend your next two years. Big trip planned? House reno ready to rumble? Thinking a new car would be really nice sometime soon? Write it down.
Mid-term goals are typically the toughest to visualize. It’s the in-between. But take your long-term goals and run it back ten years. What do you need to be doing in the interim to ensure your long-term, end game, big goals are on track? Get after it. Oh, and write it down.
If the best part of you moving on from school is never having to fill out a worksheet again, let’s move on. But you should still know what it is you’re aiming at before you shoot. And once your aim is lined up, it makes it really easy to know how much to save and to do it well. No, not with a budget. But you’ll be saving successfully for the first time (maybe ever).
The point of saving is to spend. Eventually.
Define your financial values
If you need to run it back a couple of steps - a good place to find out what it is you value is to take a look at your bank statement. Take a look at where your last month of spending has gone. And then write down what you spent this week. Keep tabs on exactly what you choose to spend your money on. Use this to do it.
Then do it. Quit playing around and get it done. Action is what separates the men from the boys. The women from the girls. The grown from the children.
Step up.
And if you feel like you need to call in the big leagues, or you know yourself well enough to know you're not gonna do sh*t on your own - that’s what the Stash Plan is for. Book a call to see if you qualify.
Stash Wealth provides financial plans designed to assist high earning young professionals build and manage their wealth.
Stash Wealth offers a pragmatic approach to financial planning and wealth management. Whether saving up for Tahiti or a Tesla, we help you achieve your short-term and long-term goals.
Written by Stash Wealth Staff Writer
Stash Wealth Staff Writers are knowledgeable about personal finance topics. Their objective is to unravel the complexities of finance trade jargon, products, and services in order to equip HENRYs with a sound understanding of financial matters.
