Think Your Way to Wealth

If you're new to "Think Your Way To Wealth", get free updates on debt reduction, saving money, and building wealth by subscribing to the RSS feed or via Email . Thanks for visiting!

Some goals are easy to define. Others are not so easy. After a bit of thought and number crunching, you can probably decide when you want to retire, and how much money you will need to live comfortably. Saving that much money might be harder, but once you decide how much money you will need, you now have a goal-a long term goal. But defining and saving for short or medium term goals, which I consider 0 to 5 years (short term) and especially 5 to 10 years (medium term) can be more difficult. Retirement saving has special savings vehicles you can use, such as a 401k or a Roth IRA. How do you save for short and intermediate length personal finance goals, and where do you invest the money? Some people give young(er) people the advice that they should only invest in the stock market, and CD’s or bonds should be avoided. But this is generally for retirement investing. What about saving for goals with a shorter time period?

Less than 5 years- You want to keep risk to a minimum, so a high interest savings account such as ING Direct or other very low risk savings or investment account is ideal. You may want to save up for a car, or a down payment on your house, or build up an emergency fund. Your goal here is to preserve principle, but to get the best interest rate available to you at a reputable bank or other investment company with very low risk.

5 to 10 years- Even at an intermediate length of time, consider a high interest savings account, or other low risk investment option. I bonds or CD’s can be an option, especially if your goal is education related, like saving for your kid’s college education (I bonds are tax free if used for education). Since the stock market can be quite volatile over 5 to 10 years (especially 5 years), the market is not necessarily the best option to preserve capital while still earning interest. When you get closer to the 10 year time horizon, the rewards of stock market investing can begin to outweigh the risks, so consider your time horizon and invest accordingly.

10 to 20 years-or longer- Once you hit the 10+ year range, it is really time to start “investing” your money, and investing in the stock market such as buying index or mutual funds and investing your money in stocks or bonds. You have plenty of time to ride out the fluctuations in the market, so take advantage of the benefits and return potential of the stock market.

Filed under: Building Wealth, Goals by RC - 2 Comments →

How Are You Doing With Your Personal Finance Goals or Resolutions for 2008?

Now is a good time to perform a review of your 2008 personal finance goals to assess your progress. If you have been keeping up with your goals over the last two + months, you are probably doing well. After two months, the changes in your behavior you have made to reach your debt reduction or savings goals have probably become habits. If that is the case, it will be a lot easier for you to continue them throughout the rest of the year.  But if you are like most people, including myself, you may not be completely achieving the goals you have set, whether they are money related or something else.  Before you give up or stop completely, reassess your goals and get back on track.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Are your goals clearly defined? Your goals may be too vague, such as “I want to pay off all of my credit card debt this year.” Poorly defined goals do not lend themselves to being achieved. If you are paying off debt, you need to take the amount you want to pay off by the end of the year and figure out how much you need to pay off on a monthly or weekly basis. Your long term goal is then broken into smaller, well-defined short term goals. For example, snowflaking is a great way to continually focus on reducing debt.

Are you sticking to your plan? Did you promise yourself you would give up something to free up money for your goals? Did you? Have you looked at your expenses to see where you can trim them like you said you would? Have you figured out how you are going to meet your goals by planning your debt reduction or investing strategy?

Are you meeting milestones? Have you met any of your weekly or monthly milestones, such as paying $200/month towards your debt, or investing $50 out of every pay check?

Take time to assess. Now is the time to look at your goals with a “critical eye”. Be honest with yourself.  If your goals are too high, you will be unable to reach them and may be more likely to give up completely.

Adjust your goals by planning now. After assessing your progress thus far, consider adjusting your goals. If you can’t pay off $200/month towards your debt, how about $150 or $100? Pick an amount you feel comfortable with now and make that your weekly or monthly goal. You can increase this as time goes on.
Recommit your self to achieving your goals. Take the next few days to really think about your goals, why they are important to you,  why you want to achieve them, and the sense of security and freedom being debt free or building wealth will give you. Commit yourself to sticking with your revised plan and meeting your goals and get back on track!

Looking for ways to kickstart your debt reduction or savings goals? Try using extreme measures to give yourself a boost.

Filed under: Building Wealth, Goals by RC - No Comments →