The start of the year is always a good time to take stock of your situation and make assessments on what you would like to achieve. My wife and I both discussed our financial goals for the coming year and we both came upon one agreement: we need to get more organized.
My 2009 financial goal – back to the essentials
I can’t control the stock market or job market, so I won’t make any goals that hinge on growing my net worth by a certain percentage, or on getting a promotion or certain raise. Those things are out of my control. I prefer to make SMART Goals – those that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Basically, a goal which I can control and/or measure progress toward.
I can control making contributions to my retirement account, striving to achieve certain benchmarks at work (professional certifications, etc.), and other important aspects of my financial life. That last item is where I want to focus my energies this year. My goal for 2009 is to get my financial house in order.
Last month I wrote an article called 10 Personal Finance Essentials. My goals is to get all of those essentials up to date (most are), and add one more, update our personal finance “how-to” manual.
My 2009 personal finance goals:
1. Update our will. This is the first item I have listed on my personal finance essentials article. My wife and I have a will, but we need to update it. There are many places where you can get your will done, including online websites like Legal Zoom, software programs, and store bought kits. But I think my wife and I may go to a lawyer this time, just for the peace of mind.
2. Obtain sufficient insurance. My wife and I have insurance, but again, we need to update it, and probably increase the amount of insurance we have. We have sufficient home and auto insurance, but we only have minimal life insurance and long term care insurance. We need to be prepared in the event the unthinkable happens.
3. Update our personal finance “how-to” manual. My wife and I currently share the responsibility for most joint bills, but we each pay our own credit cards and don’t have access to one another’s credit card accounts. She also doesn’t have access to the information to my small business bank accounts, retirement accounts, and a couple other important accounts. If something were to happen to me, she would be lost and it would likely take the work of lawyers for her to get access to everything. I did, however, make her an administrator on the Solo 401(k) plan I opened last month. That way she can have full access to the account if necessary. I created a list of al accounts, passwords, logins, etc, but I need to update it and make sure we are on the same page regarding our financial obligations.
That’s it – three items. It doesn’t seem like much, but trust me, it is! Each of these items is extremely important and will take a lot of time and research. But they are well worth the time spent and the peace of mind they provide.
Related Articles:
- 2009 Personal Finance Goals and Resolutions
- 10 Personal Finance Essentials
- Remember that Personal Well-Being Comes Before Our Finances in Personal Finance
- Personal Finance Kaizen
- When Was Your Last Financial Checkup
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Best line in the entire post is “That’s it – three items”. You kept it simple and you prioritized to what you deemed “essential” for the year. That is the important part if you plan on actually completing your goals for 2009. Most people just make goals to make them, glad to see you have your year in perspective. I have no doubts you will be successful and accomplish even more than you expected!!!
Thanks, Doctor S. I can’t complete a huge list, nor do I want to. So long as I take care of the biggies, everything else should fall in line.
Yeah. We prepared a will last year, but have yet to get around to putting the final stamp on it to put it in force.
Let me know if you need any information for your life insurance research or would be interested in any quotes or an interview if you write an article about your life insurance search. Even if you don’t like my material I could point you to a couple of other really good/knowledgeable life insurance bloggers.
I only have one financial goal right now. My goal is to stop dining out for lunch so much. I’ve gotten pretty lazy about not packing a lunch on most days. I think I could save a lot of money if I really scale back.
Once I find out if I’m getting a raise/bonus and how much it is going to be I’ll develop a second goal as to how to direct that money. I don’t want to make a plan until I know what I’m going to have to work with.
I find if I have a huge list of goals I get totally overwhelmed and end up not meeting any of them. I would rather set one or two and actually have a chance of being successful.
Kristen: I’m the same way with targeted goal setting – one or two, then move on. If I make a huge list, then I get overwhelmed! Good luck with your goals!
I actually think I need to get a will.
I have nothing in place right now, which is foolish, considering I’m approaching 40.