Financial Goals For The New Year: How To Set Them And Get Organised

The new year is a great time to review your finances and make sure you are on track to meet your financial goals. Whether you are a business owner, planning retirement, or just want to be more financially secure, it is always a good idea to review your financial situation and make sure you are on the right track for your goals.

 

Why is it important to set financial goals? 

 

Setting financial goals gives you something to aim for. 

 

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and lose sight of your long-term financial goals. However, if you have specific goals that you’re working towards, it will be easier to stay motivated and on track. 

 

When it comes to setting financial goals you should look at:

 

• Your short-term goals
• Your medium-term goals
• Your long-term goals

 

Within those time-frames, you can set goals for specific financial milestones.

 

No matter what type of goal you set though, it’s important to have a plan for how you’re going to achieve it. Without a plan, it will be difficult to make progress. 

 

How to set financial goals, get organised and review your progress:

 

1) Track your finances

You can do this by setting up a simple spreadsheet – Record all of your income and expenditure (even the odd takeaway or trip to Starbucks!). You can also use apps such as Mint or Goodbudget.

 

Once you have it all down, you will have a much clearer overview of your financial situation. It can highlight areas you could cut back, invest or save more. It’s also a great starting point for getting organised with your finances and being able to review them more effectively in the future.

 

The 8FP way to do this:

 

After our initial meeting with you (which isn’t about your financial situation at all – It’s all about you, your family, your life goals, your plans and wants, etc), we take a deeper dive into your finances. We can then make your financial and lifestyle goals work together.

 

We call this Cash Flow Planning. 

 

It’s where we show you what will happen to your income in the future, based on assumptions around spending, inflation and investment growth.

 

This simple, clear guide will allow you to make better informed decisions on how long you need to continue working for and how much you can spend in retirement. It also plans for achieving the financial and lifestyle goals you discussed with us in our initial meeting.

 

2) Set-up accountability 

 

Now you’ve got everything tracked, it’s important you stay on top of it. This includes both logging and reviewing your finances at regular intervals.

Two simple ways you could do this is by setting up calendar reminders or using a goal-tracking app. Having a system of reminders will help you stay on track and ensure that you don’t forget about your goals. 

 

The 8FP way to do this:

 

The good thing about working with a financial planner like us, is that we do all of this for you.

 

Not only do we constantly monitor, review and adjust your plan to ensure the best possible return for you, we are also there as accountability for you in variety of ways:-

 

• We have annual review meetings with you – These are to keep you in the loop with your finances and see how we can help you further. Our aim is to build a financial plan around the lifestyle you want, not just your assets. We use this meeting to go over your financial plan in-depth. We also ensure we are using your finances to give you a better quality of life on your journey towards financial freedom.

 

• We host quarterly client-only lifestyle events – The idea is that we can try new experiences together. It’s not just your finances we want to take care of, it’s you too.

 

• We use our position to offer different areas of support – Being a financial planner is a privileged position that allows us to discuss various, personal aspects of your life. This means we are able to offer lifestyle coaching alongside financial coaching. 

 

• We make sure anything we put out is of benefit to you – From our blogs and social media posts, to our monthly newsletter that contains finance tips, lifestyle hacks, recommendations and exciting announcements. All of it is designed to empower you when it comes to your finances and be there as a support every step of the way.

 

You can sign up to our monthly newsletter here.

 

Now you have a better understanding of your finances, let’s look at setting financial goals.

 

Tips for setting financial goals for the new year:

 

We’ve discussed reviewing your finances where they are now, so what’s next?

 

Set realistic goals 

 

If you set goals that are too ambitious, you’re likely to get discouraged and give up, therefore, it’s better to set smaller, achievable goals that you can then build up.

 

Be specific

 

Vague goals are more difficult to achieve than specific goals. For example, a goal of “saving more money” is less likely to be achieved than a goal of “saving £500 per month”. 

 

Have a timeframe for your goals 

 

If you don’t specify when you want to achieve a goal, it will be more difficult to stay on track. For example, a goal of “saving £500 per month” is more likely to be achieved if you specify that you want to achieve it within the next year. 

 

Review your progress 

 

As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to review your progress periodically. This will help you see how well you’re doing and identify any areas where you need to make changes. 

 

Talk to a professional

 

Talking to a financial planner will not only help you get feedback and perspective on your progress, they will work with you on turning your financial goals into reality.

 

Here at 8FP, we’re here to support you hitting your financial goals. We work closely with you to make them happen with a real, tangible plan that we review constantly.

 

We also regularly review the value you get from us with our Value Checklist.

 

Here, we compare the fees you are paying to the value we can add in the following areas:

 

• Investments (extra returns created or costs saved)
• Tax (Pension , Investment CGT and Income Tax saved)
• Insurance (Premiums saved, quality increased)
• Education
• Debt Management
• Estate Planning (Wills and POAs established, IHT saved)
• Problems avoided
• Admin hassle reduced
• Other Professional introductions 

 

We do this to show you the value you receive on an on-going basis. That way, we can see if there’s anything else we could be doing.

 

We hope this has been helpful in showing you how to set financial goals, get organised and on-track financially. Plus, how to review your finances to ensure success.

 

If you’d like to learn more about our on-going advice service or have any questions, please get in touch or book a meeting with us here.

 

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