It’s that time of year again and you’ve likely made one or more New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re like a majority of Americans, you made a resolution to achieve at least one of the following goals in 2013:
- Lose weight
- Get in better physical condition (exercise more)
- Get organized
- Get in better financial shape
A recent survey by Fidelity Investments, found that of those who made financial resolutions, over 50% set a goal of saving more money.
Whether saving is for a short-term goal (like buying a new car) or a long-term goal (like saving for retirement), how do you avoid being one of the over 35% of Americans who have broken their resolution by the end of January?*
Try these ideas:
- Write down the savings goals you’d like to accomplish by 12/31/2013.
- Break your bigger goals into actionable and specific quarterly goals; assess your progress every 90 days.
- Be accountable to a third party. Your financial planner is the perfect person to work with to establish your annual goals and develop actionable steps to achieve those goals. Schedule a quarterly check-in to report your progress.
Like any goal (or resolution) you make in life, putting it in writing and keeping yourself accountable is the best way to achieve success. Make 2013 the year you keep your financial resolutions! See my next blog for ideas on specific actionable goals for the year.
Sandra Adams, CFP® is a Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Sandy specializes in Elder Care Financial Planning and is a frequent speaker on related topics. In 2012 and 2013, Sandy was named to the Five Star Wealth Managers list in Detroit Hour magazine. In addition to her frequent contributions to Money Centered, she is regularly quoted in national media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine and Journal of Financial Planning.
Five Star Award is based on advisor being credentialed as an investment advisory representative (IAR), a FINRA registered representative, a CPA or a licensed attorney, including education and professional designations, actively employed in the industry for five years, favorable regulatory and complaint history review, fulfillment of firm review based on internal firm standards, accepting new clients, one- and five-year client retention rates, non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered, number of client households served.
*New York Times, January 2012