Do you have a game plan for how you will achieve your goals and ultimately fulfill what is truly important to you? I find it very interesting that many people don’t have a game plan for how they will get from where they are now to where they want to be. Some might have a business plan that they create or update every year but then never look at it during the year to know if they are on track or off track. At the end of the year they got lucky and hit their goals or they wonder why they didn’t achieve their goals.
It seems that many people don’t have a clear idea of how much money they need to live their current lifestyle, pay their taxes, and fund their future (so they have what they want to have by the time they would like to retire or experience financial independence). Everything seems to be a guess based on what they think would be nice to make in a year and no game plan to achieve it or even know if they do achieve it, will it be the right amount of money to help them be on the path to achieving their goals.
If you don’t have a written game plan so you know what you need to do every day to be on the path of achieving your goals, you need one!
Begin with the end in mind as Stephen Covey would say. How much money would you want to have (not need necessarily) per month or per year to be financially independent or be retired? This doesn’t mean you have to stop working but if you did, you would have all the money you want to live the kind of life you want.
When would you want to be financially independent or retired? List a specific month, day, and year.
How much money would you then need to ensure that you generate the money you want at that time? A general rule of thumb might be for every $50,000 of net money you would need $1 million. Another general observation is that many people spend more money when they aren’t working then when they are working. Think about it, you have more time to do more things that you want to do.
So how much money do you need to make each year to live your lifestyle, pay your taxes, and save for your financial independence or retirement so that you have this amount of money you want by the date you have set?
What do you have to do each day to help put yourself in the highest probability position to achieve your goals so you can achieve the number you have stated you want by the time you want?
If you are like me, in order to determine how much you need to make each year, you will need to hire a financial professional to help you. You can guess and maybe you start there. However, having a written, comprehensive, financial game plan so that you know what you need to do to achieve your goals is important for everyone.
If you don’t already have a Financial Adviser who you trust, get one to help you so you know you are on the right path to achieving your goals for the reasons that are important to you.
