How to make your financial goals achievable

When putting together a financial plan, the best place to start is by setting out clear objectives that you want to achieve.

Everyone’s objectives will be different, you could be expanding your investment portfolio, looking to purchase a new property, ensuring you have a comfortable retirement, or maybe your top priority is passing on a generous inheritance to your loved ones.

To help you get started, Terry Hewes, Director here at Wealth Experts, has outlined ways that you can ensure you meet your financial targets.

Terry’s Top Tips:

I’d always start by setting objectives, but these overall goals will only get you so far, you need to delve deeper into what these mean and how you are going to get there.

How to be SMART

One way you can do this is by setting SMART targets, a classic and effective way of helping you set clear, defined goals and identify what steps you need to take them.

Specific:

Replace “I want to retire early” with “I want to retire at 50”, or “I want to save more money” with “I want to save an extra £500 a month”

Putting a definite figure on it means you have a tangible goal in sight, as opposed to an ambition you can’t pin down.

Measurable:

To keep you motivated, this is an important metric which will help you see if you’re on track to achieving your goals, help identify if any changes are needed and it will be nice and rewarding when you reach the finish line and can see what you’ve achieved!

Achievable:

There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, but it’s just as important to be realistic at the same time – ultimately, your goal has to be something you can feasibly accomplish.

Relevant:

Does your goal align with your lifestyle and other financial objectives?

Timely:

Set a date of when you want to reach each of your intended goals by.

Stay focused and motivated

Without clear, tangible, realistic aims and firm deadlines, it can be easy to lose focus and motivation, and become frustrated when you don’t feel you’re seeing any results or returns.

Setting SMART goals means you can keep an eye on your target and take action of how to get there. You can also measure when you hit certain milestones, helping you stay on course and give you the belief that you will get there as you’re doing all the right things. You can also look back to see how far you’ve come too.

However, it may be disheartening as working towards a goal can be hard work and draining, so try to keep the steps as simple as possible to ensure you don’t get too overwhelmed and lose impetus to carry on going. For example, if your goal is relating to savings, you could set up automated payments into your savings account to take out the risk you might talk yourself out of that month’s payment, or spend it whilst it is sitting in your account.

WE are here to help

This process can be incredibly daunting, but that’s what we’re here for. Our team will take the stress off of financial planning so all you need to do is reap the rewards! If you’d like to put a new financial plan in place, you can get in touch with our advisors here.