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Reaching Multiple Financial Goals at Once
Most people don’t have just one financial goal. Often, there are two to three different goals you want to build towards at once. It can be anything from reducing debt to vacations, or building savings to making large purchases. This can be overwhelming when finances aren’t readily available.
People usually take one of two approaches to financial goal setting:
Concurrently: Saving for two or more financial goals at the same time.
Sequentially: Saving for one financial goal at a time in a series of steps.
With so many goals, it’s not always realistic to save for one at a time. At that rate, depending on your finances, it could take far longer than intended.
If you have multiple financial goals, learn to build on these financial habits to help you reach them successfully:
1. Save for your financial goals concurrently instead of one at a time. Contributing to all funds at once eliminates the un-motivating statements of, “once I have…,”; “after I pay this off...,”; and “as soon as…” These statements keep you on a hamster wheel of just barely, if ever, reaching your goals. By contributing to all goals, you’re moving towards reaching them in sync. That nagging feeling of needing to finish one to finally get to the other is no longer on your mind.
2. If anything, remember idle money is easy to squander. This means, money you have available that has not been designated in some way for purpose, is easily spent frivolously. Money set aside with intention, reaches goals. When you designate separate savings accounts and begin to funnel money into each one, you’re maximizing your power to save.
3. Compound interest makes time your friend on long-term goals like your retirement fund or savings in general. The best way to make sure you’re making monthly contributions is to set up recurring deposits into those accounts. The earliest years of saving towards long-term goals are the most powerful ones.
4. If one financial goal takes priority over the other, designate more funds to that account, but continue to make monthly contributions to your other accounts. Or, if you receive bonuses or additional income regularly, consider contributing the extra funds to the accounts with priority.
5. Motivation doesn’t come easy. Sometimes we have to trick our brains into it. When you begin to save, no matter the amount, the act itself triggers motivation. That’s why people say the hardest part is just getting started. Once you see the account balance begin to grow, it triggers positive feelings and gives you the motivation to keep going.
Ideally, saving of any kind is a positive step in the right direction. If you want to reach your goals faster, implement a savings plan that hits every financial goal at once. Once you get started, you’ll love feeling the forward motion of financial progress.
Source: Wise Bread
People usually take one of two approaches to financial goal setting:
Concurrently: Saving for two or more financial goals at the same time.
Sequentially: Saving for one financial goal at a time in a series of steps.
With so many goals, it’s not always realistic to save for one at a time. At that rate, depending on your finances, it could take far longer than intended.
If you have multiple financial goals, learn to build on these financial habits to help you reach them successfully:
1. Save for your financial goals concurrently instead of one at a time. Contributing to all funds at once eliminates the un-motivating statements of, “once I have…,”; “after I pay this off...,”; and “as soon as…” These statements keep you on a hamster wheel of just barely, if ever, reaching your goals. By contributing to all goals, you’re moving towards reaching them in sync. That nagging feeling of needing to finish one to finally get to the other is no longer on your mind.
2. If anything, remember idle money is easy to squander. This means, money you have available that has not been designated in some way for purpose, is easily spent frivolously. Money set aside with intention, reaches goals. When you designate separate savings accounts and begin to funnel money into each one, you’re maximizing your power to save.
3. Compound interest makes time your friend on long-term goals like your retirement fund or savings in general. The best way to make sure you’re making monthly contributions is to set up recurring deposits into those accounts. The earliest years of saving towards long-term goals are the most powerful ones.
4. If one financial goal takes priority over the other, designate more funds to that account, but continue to make monthly contributions to your other accounts. Or, if you receive bonuses or additional income regularly, consider contributing the extra funds to the accounts with priority.
5. Motivation doesn’t come easy. Sometimes we have to trick our brains into it. When you begin to save, no matter the amount, the act itself triggers motivation. That’s why people say the hardest part is just getting started. Once you see the account balance begin to grow, it triggers positive feelings and gives you the motivation to keep going.
Ideally, saving of any kind is a positive step in the right direction. If you want to reach your goals faster, implement a savings plan that hits every financial goal at once. Once you get started, you’ll love feeling the forward motion of financial progress.
Source: Wise Bread