Financial Planning Advice – Advice For Setting Financial Goals

Any of life’s biggest goals – be they professional, fitness-related, family-oriented or otherwise – have one key thing in common: to achieve them you must be organised, dedicated and focused on the result. Setting financial goals is no exception!

To ensure you are in the best position to kick-start your financial plan and get on the road to achieving your most ambitious dreams, we share our expert advice on how to set financial goals and knock each one out of the park.

Define your financial goals

The first course of action when setting financial goals is to get them all down on paper. Be as specific and detailed as possible, list them based on priority and set a deadline for each one. Divide them into groups of immediate, short-term and long-term goals, enabling you to figure out what needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency and what can potentially be put on hold for a future date.

Creating timelines and deadlines for your future ambitions will help you to stay on course and give you a clear endpoint to work towards.

Define your strategy

Once your goals have been established, you need to figure out how you can make them a reality. Examining your current financial status will give you a clear idea of what is realistic and what may be out of reach, enabling you to put a strategy in place.

Look at your earnings and other sources of income, regular outgoings, savings, debts and what you do with your disposable income. Based on this information, figure out where you’re currently at and where you ideally need to get to for your goals to be realised.

Get more bang for your buck

You’ve worked hard for your money, so now it’s time to figure out how to make your money work hard for you. This is where tax relief on savings and investments comes in. Talk with a financial advisor to find out how you can dramatically increase your annual savings by availing yourself of the various pension and investment-related tax incentives that are currently in place.

On a lesser and more immediate scale, examine your accounts in detail and figure out where you can cut back on minor expenses each month in favour of instead investing in the ‘future fund’.

Expect the unexpected when setting financial goals

From car breakdowns and property damage to costly events like family weddings, life is filled with surprise expenses lurking around every corner. To tackle such surprises head-on, it is helpful to have an emergency fund where affordable, which may allow you to steer clear of your savings when you need to get out of a financial bind.

If your cash flow simply won’t stretch that far at present, the most important thing to remember is not to veer off course after a bad financial month. Get back into gear and start afresh the following month. Any momentum lost can be recouped down the line; there are always peaks and troughs in a lifetime financial plan and this is why continuous reviews are hugely important.

Seek expert guidance

Opting for expert help when setting your financial goals is advisable. For one, going this route will catapult your strategy to the next level thanks to technological practices such as cash flow modelling. Many financial advisors use this to visualise their client’s financial future and gain a better understanding of how their savings and investments can be maximised.

An experienced financial advisor will also continuously review your plan, monitoring existing investments and potential investment opportunities and adapting it to incorporate your changing life circumstances.

For expert help when setting financial goals, look to Symmetry Financial Management

The team at Symmetry Financial Management are on hand with professional financial advice at every stage of the process, from setting your goals and creating a plan to achieving them, to regularly revising the plan to finally see those goals come to fruition. You have the ambitions and we have the expertise to help you realise them.

Let us help you on your financial journey – get in touch for a consultation today.

For more financial planning advice, check out our blog and resources to find more answers to your most pressing financial queries.