Working Money: Setting Financial Goals by Bruce R. Faber Your financial destination may seem distant,but you ’ll get there — if you stick to your goals. “You got to have a dream,” says Bloody Mary, in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. “If you don’t have a dream,” she continues, “how you gonna have a dream come true?” Replace the word dream with the word goal and this advice becomes even more valuable, especially if the discussion is about your financial future. Wishin’ and hopin’ just don’t get the job done. You need a goal and — just as important — a plan for reaching it. Your goal is as distinctive as you are. Thus, I can’t tell you what your goal should be, but the general purpose of financial goals is universal: making sure you can retire without sacrificing too much of the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed. The suggestions presented here are only examples, to help you design a goal that best suits you. TURNING DREAMS INTO GOALS What a goal is not: Planning on winning the lottery. A pie-in-the-sky delusion — such as “someday I’m gonna be rich and/or famous” — is not a goal, it’s a fantasy. While that kind of delusion or fantasy may be better than no goal at all, it most likely is not going to get you where you want to be. It may be better than drifting along without any thought for the future, but a goal it is not. |
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