20 Achievable Financial Goals in Life

 

Reflecting on achievable financial goals is one of the most important things at every stage in life to have an edge on your future despite your income. Sure, minding about financial status is a key factor in managing finances even when you are out of active service.

You have to be vigilant about your income and expenditure the following day, week, month, and year for the best. Besides, it is best practice to be concerned about the future at an early age to be able to exhaust our financial plans to the fullest.

What Are Financial Goals

At every stage in life, there are financial plans to meet accordingly whether long-term, medium-term, or long-term. Identify your money objectives to come up with a detailed plan of how to achieve them.

Additionally, to streamline your status you have to keep an eye on your financials for effectiveness and efficiency over a specific time frame.

Types of Achievable Financial Goals Explained

Let’s look at the three types of financial goals in different stages without further ado.

• Short term goals

These are set for small items that can be achieved within a year for example saving for a holiday, down payment for a new car, and insurance premiums.

• Medium-term goals

Here financial goals are set for not more than five years for example paying off loans, saving for a wedding, and raising startup capital for a business.

• Long terms goals

Financial targets here take more than five years to achieve, such as paying off student loans and retirement savings.

Attainable Financial Goals in Life to Consider

We all have different financial interests in life, so the duration in goal setting is quite different in the short, medium, and long term. Let’s dive into achievable financial goals to consider in life.

1. Paying off credit card debt

Credit card debt can be quite stressful when it is not yet paid off hence it would be wise to put up a strategic debt payment plan. If your goal is to clear the debt in a given time frame then you need to have a defined amount to be paid periodically that is weekly or monthly.

You don’t need to keep paying debt throughout your life, come up with a proper debt management plan for effectiveness and efficiency in a specific time frame. Credit cards are sometimes a lifesaver during emergencies.

If you are thinking about financial goals to achieve this year, paying off credit card debt to improve your finances is ideal.

2. Budgeting finances

Budgeting helps to determine where your money should go to avoid questioning yourself where it went. This helps to put income and expenditure to good use and on record.

If the estimated income is more than your expenses, you will have more money put aside as future savings. However, when expenses outweigh income it is better to review that budget to cut costs or allocate resources appropriately.

Budgeting finances can be quite challenging to some people hence requires some time to achieve the desired or consult a professional for guidance.

3. Diversifying income sources

It’s said that most wealthy people have about seven income streams and hence get paid from different sources. This means that you don’t have to depend on only one source of income to survive.

If you want to diversify earnings to earn more money then you must have a plan to achieve that dream goal in a specific period. First, that extra income source you wish to start shouldn’t collide with the job you are doing now.

Let’s take an example where you are employed yet the side hustle you plan to start requires quitting that current job yet you want flexibility. You can either decide to talk to your employer to reduce your working hours or choose another better option.

4. Retirement saving

Another great financial goal to achieve in life is planning for retirement to secure your future. Before owning a retirement account you must know your retirement requirements and interests for effectiveness in achieving your goals.

You don’t need to earn a lot to start saving for retirement though the earlier the better more so with a compound interest account where you are paid interest on savings. Some of the most preferred ways to invest your savings include the 401(k) and individual retirement arrangements (IRAs).

If you are still in the early ages you can decide to aggressively save or not since there is time, but when you are grown up you need a better plan to save more money to get a bigger share at retirement.

5. Work on credit scores

If you want to meet your money goals effectively, consider improving or maintaining a healthy credit score with your service provider. No matter your interest in acquiring debt a better credit score puts you at an advantage for better terms and conditions on payback.

Some of the ways to keep your credit card scores in check include clearing credit card debt in time, making full payments, immediate action to service providers’ requests, and not exhausting your credit card limit.

6. Cutting the cost of living expenditure

No matter your earnings cutting expenditure is also one other achievable financial goal to consider to save more money. First things first, put into consideration periodically reviewing the budget to extremely cut costs where necessary.

Try your best to manage expenses to the fullest by sourcing for better money-saving options for example friendly insurance service, avoiding credit debts, and cutting transport costs.

Therefore, if the cost of living is out of the equation and you can’t save any money look through the budget to cut costs on basic needs and discretionary items.

7. Saving for vacation

Whether you are employed or self-employed you need to have time to relax your mind outside the working environment. Putting money aside as savings on anything is quite challenging to some people.

However, if you want to start having a great time with your family and friends, saving for vacation is very vital at any stage in life. Sure, come up with a proper plan of how you are going to be achieving the money goal over the years.

Effective vacation planning requires putting into consideration your financial stand and the costs to be incurred to your preferred destination before starting the money-saving journey.

8. Build an emergency fund

This is also one of the important financial goals to consider to secure your future because tomorrow is unpredictable. If you don’t have an emergency fund it is quite challenging to effectively meet future money targets in time.

However, when there is a fund in place to cover up during emergencies like losing a job, you can still live a life until you get employed. Savings of at least three to six months should be kept in an emergency fund to cater for costs.

Talk to your service provider to automate emergency savings from your checking account. Your savings will normally depend on income earned and how fast you want to achieve the money-saving goal.

9. Investing money

If you want to grow your money this is the best way to start no matter your earnings. You don’t need a lot of money to start investing in productive things like starting a business and buying shares of companies to receive dividends.

When your future investment goal is starting a business, save money now and also carry out thorough research about the business. If you decide to invest your money into buying shares of companies with a proven track record of making money, the more the company’s share price grows the more your investment grows too.

Planning a list of financial goals to achieve this year, right? Start investing money to grow your wealth over some time.

10. Negotiating bills

You don’t want to spend all your paycheck earnings on bills, right? Then it’s time you start reviewing them to determine where need to cut to save money.

Sure, if it requires looking through bills every month for the good of your financials don’t hesitate at all to do it. Where changes need to be made consult the service provider and negotiate prices or switch to cheap offers to save.

11. Apply for a credit card

If you don’t have a credit card it’s time you get it because there are lots of good things that come with it in place. When you learn how to manage it the right way you won’t get disappointed for example paying it off time for better credit scores.

Look out for service providers with better offers to get the most out of it. A credit card will save you a lot in times of emergency hence would be listed among the items to achieve this year to improve your financials.

12. Write a will

Some people don’t write wills early for different reasons they give depending on life experience for example a person should write it in old age, when in a critical condition, and after building wealth.

However, the moment you start working and you have a family I think this should be the right time a will should be written because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

Some people pass on without children or spouses and when they are not wealthy but they stipulate how to distribute the little they own, you don’t need to have a lot to write a will. This is one other item you should include in your money goals at no cost to you at all.

13. Expand knowledge about money

It’s quite challenging for some people when it comes to acquiring knowledge concerning money to improve their financial well-being. Sure, many don’t want to read yet it is the best way you can sharpen your mindset about money.

If you want to do better let it be a financial goal to start reading about money hence buy finance books to guide you in meeting your money targets in life. There are lots of books about personal finance, investing, and starting businesses for free and at a cost you can use to expand your knowledge.

Starting today despite your situation, through online and offline stores get a book to read or listen in your free time at least once a month.

14. Save for a down payment

I don’t know what you are planning this year, but there must be something big you would want to purchase. If you can’t manage to pay in cash, start small by saving up some money to raise a down payment for it.

Whether you want to buy a home, dream car, washing machine, and more you can save up a down payment no matter your earnings. Most people find it hard to pay for items in cash hence raise that down payment and then pay the balance in installments.

The down payment percentage or amount depends on the type of item you want to buy whether 10%, 20%, or 30%. This is a great place to start when you are surviving on a low income but interested in owning something.

15. Salary increment

If you want to earn more money despite your side hustle talk to your employer about a salary increment, but here you need to look through your past and the company’s performance. However, it is a great financial goal to consider to increase your income.

A salary increment will also help you to start allocating more to productive things that matter in boosting your finances in the long run for example investing, retirement, and loan payments.

The response you get from your employer defines your position at the workplace. When your output at work is not questioned you will get positive feedback and the opposite is true.

16. Planning short-term money goals

If you want to keep motivated every year that goes by, short-term money goals are the best way to start. We all know that long-term goals take time to mature hence you need something in that line to keep you on purpose.

The fact that you can achieve short-term money goals then the long-term goals are also achievable. Put up a strategy to follow in executing your plans for effectiveness.

17. Paying mortgage early

Mortgage loans are long-term money goals that last for more than ten years. However, if you want to get out of debt early you have to aggressively pay it off putting into consideration early clearance fees.

There is a period when you feel that it is time to get of out long-term debts hence filtering them out and planning to pay them off early to reduce the pressure. Besides short-term financial commitments, mortgage payments can drill your checking account for decades.

When there are long-term financial goals you want to work out early, paying off the mortgage should be on the priority list of items.

18. Tracking financial records

Do you know that managing your finances by tracking income and expenditure can completely improve your financials? Start minding about any financial records that belong to you for accountability purposes.

Here you can compare past performance with the present to bring your financials in check. This is something that most people don’t have time for because they have busy schedules.

However, there is proven software anyone can use to handle budgeting, savings, and other costs that go through your checking account. You can keep working on managing your schedule as the software automatically journals financial transactions.

19. Become debt free

You need to have a strategic plan for attaining a debt-free financial target because it is a process and it takes time.

Between ages 21 and 30, most people are not mindful about their expenses and debt at all. But as we start maturing in age and financially, things change when it comes to managing money.

Financial maturity is where you start becoming accountable for your financial well-being like cutting credit card debt from unnecessary expenditures. Achieving a debt-free status is quite challenging but your level of commitment determines success.

20. Upgrade or learn a new skill

The fact that you want to improve your money life and things are not working out as you expected, it’s a sign that you either need to upgrade or get a new skill to supplement your profession for an extra income.

There are skilling programs you can attend online in your free time at minimal costs. Like any other program, you need to put in the work to get the most out of it over time to change your life despite the hard work.

Let’s say you want to start up a money-making side hustle blog, it will take you time to learn how to make it work even when you have a mentor but the results are life-changing. If it requires going back to upgrade with your profession for better pay don’t hesitate at all.

FAQs

• Do I Need To Set Financial Goals To Improve Financially?

Sure, it is very challenging to manage in life when you don’t have a target especially when it comes to your finances. You need a strategic plan for your financial lifestyle at every stage.

• When Do I Need Consultancy from A Finance Professional about My Goals?

Anytime you feel that things are out of balance financially. These people will look through your financial lifestyle and advise where you need to improve and get back on track.

Conclusion

If you were stranded about money goals to achieve in life from today, this list might be all you want to get started.