How to Set and Achieve Your Financial Goals

Reaching your financial goals can be difficult, but not impossible. The key is to get out of your way. Here are some strategies that can make reaching your goals easier.

Be Specific

The first step toward reaching your financial goals is to define them clearly. The more ambiguous your goals, the harder they will be to attain.

Example of “Be Specific”

Let’s say one of your goals is to “save more for retirement.” That’s great, but what does that mean? Instead, reframe that goal to “save an additional 10 percent of my income for retirement.” The more specific your goal, the better. 

Create Deadlines

Now that you have specific goals, you should categorize each as short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

• Short-Term Goals. Short-term goals are ones you want to attain within one to three years. An example would be buying a new car, or paying off your credit card debts.
• Medium-Term Goals. These are the ones you want to reach three to five years from now. A medium-term goal could be making a down payment on a house.
• Long-Term Goals. When setting long-term goals think three to five years and beyond, like retirement savings and more.

Track Yourself

With the road map created, the last step toward reaching your financial goals is to track your progress. Schedule reminders to check in on each goal. Ask yourself if the goal is still attainable on the timeline you set. If circumstances change, make the necessary adjustments. 

Do One Thing: Be as specific as possible when creating financial goals.