The Importance of Setting Financial Goals
Sunday September 28, 2008
The first step in personal financial planning is controlling your day-to-day financial affairs to enable you to do the things that bring you satisfaction and help you reach your goals. This is achieved by planning and following a budget. Controlling spending, saving money, and investing for the future are all important aspects of financial planning, but those things mean nothing if you don't have specific goals that you're trying to reach. In order to gauge your financial success, you need to have goals so that you can measure your success. The second step in personal financial planning is choosing and following a course toward long-term financial goals.
The four steps to setting financial goals:
- Identify and write down your goals.
- Break goals down into short-term and long-term goals.
- Educate yourself.
- Evaluate your progress.
Comments
I agree that it is important to set financial goals and figuring out your budget is the first step. I work on a wealth management team for an accounting and consulting firm in Boston, Vitale Caturano (www.vitale.com) and have come to know the importance of managing your money effectively on a small and large scale. I think the basic steps you outlines are great and to the point, thanks for sharing this.