Timeframe for Financial Goals
By placing a time frame on your goals you are motivating yourself to get started and helping to allow you the chance to succeed. Just remember that you can adjust the time frame whenever you want to.
Long-term goals (over 5 years) are those things that won’t happen overnight, no matter how hard you work to achieve them.
They make take a long time to accomplish (hence the reason they are called long term goals), so give yourself a reasonable amount of time, that are based on your best estimates of what it will take to achieve them.
Examples of long-term goals might include college education for a child, retirement plan or purchasing a home. Whatever the case, these goals generally require longer commitments and often more money in the end.
Intermediate-term goals (1-5 years) are the type of goals that can’t be executed overnight but might not take many years to accomplish. Examples might include purchasing/replacing a car, getting an education or certification, or paying off your debts like credit cards etc. (depending on the amount).
Short-term goals (within one year) generally take one year or less to achieve, based on the date the task is needed, the total estimated cost, and the required savings.
What are your goals? To find out, you need to make up a list, decide which timeline your goal fits into, detail the steps necessary to achieve your goals, then take action toward reaching those goals. It’s that simple.
You might be wondering where to start when deciding how to go about to start your financial goals. These are some basic tips to help you in making the best choices for you.
After looking at these tips, it is best for you to go out and do some research to find the method(s) that suit you best.
• Begin by taking 5%-10% out of each pay check and put it in a savings account
• Look into different investment strategies such as IRA’s, stocks, RRSP’s, mutual Funds, personal investments etc. There are many more and all can assist you in short and long term goals.
• Start making a budget for yourself that leaves you with some extra money and follow it
• Use your coupons that is why they are there. It seems like small savings, but add together you could save 20-30 dollars at each trip to the market
• Shop around for bargains
• Do not live outside of your means
• Work with a credit counselor to get help in lowering your monthly expenses and get rid of your debt
These are just some of the things that you can do when beginning to realize your financial goals. Of course, you also have to follow the steps in the above sections on how to successfully set goals.
The steps to setting goals successfully don’t change, only the methods that you use to go about it. By that I mean; when it is career wise, work to get noticed; for relationships, work on maintaining your intimacy or getting it back; in financial matters, work to save and invest money etc. It really is that easy.