New Year Financial Goals
The reason why it’s good to have goals is that it gives you a purpose, something to strive for, something to look forward to, something to eventually be proud of. Ok, now I got you pumped right…..NICE! But at the same time, it’s important to make sure those goals are balanced in a sense that they are not too easy or not too hard to attain.
If your goals are too easy, you’ll be done with them in a couple of months. And if too hard or completely unrealistic, you may be discouraged, frustrated, angry or even give up early. Here are three of mine for 2017:
Save More for Retirement
The 2017 limit for retirement contributions is $18,000. And guess what, for me that is an unrealistic goal! But I can save a little more, so I will contribute 1-2 percent more from each pay period. You may be thinking that doesn’t sound like a lot, but come retirement time, it is. Based on Fidelity Investments, an example of someone in their 20s increasing their contribution by 1% can “lead to an additional $190 a month in retirement” (From Fidelity). Maybe $190 a month by the time I retire will only mean like $80 to $100 today, but I’ll still take it!
The benefit of saving extra for your retirement is that it decreases your taxable income so you may pay less in taxes at the end of the year or get a bigger refund, and it is automatically taken out every pay period so you can just adjust your contribution once in the beginning of the year. I highly urge everyone reading this to reassess your retirement contribution each year and try to contribute just a bit more. After all, it is all for you and your family anyway.
Focus Shopping
When I was younger I didn’t like going to the store for clothes. So in order to be more focused I would already look up online what I wanted or already see it in a commercial (for example cargo pants or a pair of jeans from Old Navy). So I would go to the store, buy what I already knew about, pay and leave.
Now when I go shopping with my family, I really don’t need anything, but will buy a shirt here, some socks there, or a hat, or some snacks that are near the register at Target. This is dangerous and kind of like impulse buying. When I was focused, I would only go to the store when I needed to, so in 2017 I am going to try to bring the old me back baby!
Invest In The Up and Coming
The most difficult part of investing is finding out what to invest in. This year, I want to find a company that is growing and will soon pay
. That way I can benefit from both the increase in the stock price and the income from the dividends.
At the same time, it is important to find a company I believe: one that makes
and provides great service has a known and respectable reputation, consistently growing from an income and profit standpoint and has a senior management staff that has outlined a clear path for growth and success.
The good thing is thanks to all the free information available on the internet, I already have a starting point. According to Yahoo Finance, below are some of America’s Fastest Growing Companies (click to expand). The full article is here: USA’s Fastest Growing.
Make This Year Great
Please take some time and think of your own financial goals if you haven’t already done so. It will help you to better organize your life, stay focused and plan your year wisely. And guess what, if you achieve your goals, maybe you can even reward yourself with like a weekend getaway, day at the spa, or a fun night out.
Finally, let me know what your goals are by commenting below!
Good goals for 2017, SMM!
I’m trying to fix my impulse purchases when shopping as well. I usually purchase more snacks than real food when I’m at the grocery store, which can be a big hitter to the budget. Hopefully I’ll do a better job for the rest of the year by minimizing and restricting myself to snacks and eating healthier.
I hope you achieve your goals!
Thank you. Yes snacks are tough to avoid, especially when those grocery stores have them at the end of the aisle or in the check-out line which increases our impulse buying capabilities. All the best in 2017 for you as well!
My two biggest goals for 2017 are to find a new job that aligns with my passions and the second is to exercise 4x a week. Those are the two biggest. My next goal is to try to save 70% of my take home pay as I’ve been able to save 65% of my take home pay the past two years. So hopefully this is the year that we break through 🙂
Wow! All those are aggressive goals and that is what I like! What’s the point of having a goal that’s easily achievable. You want to set the bar a bit high so you have something to look forward too. Similar to working out, I’m trying to put a goal together to limit my sugar/sweets/desserts intake to just a taste after dinner or bite size. It’s going to tough, but I really want to do that.
Best of luck to you!
This is so inspirational!
I am definately going to sign up for your financial goal.
Good luck SMM, I like all your goals, particularly saving more for retirement 🙂
Tristan
Thanks for your fantastic article SMM. Anyone can easily understand their financial moves and importance of savings for their future by reading this article. I came to know lots of new things. It’s worth able to share with my friends.