Tuesday Tip: Setting Good Financial Goals

Creating and sticking to a budget isn’t always easy. But, setting goals is one way to stay accountable to yourself and to others during times of financial stress, like tackling consumer debt. Learn how setting good financial goals is important with this Tuesday Tip from the Talking Cents blog.

Good financial goals – like paying off debt – are achievable.

Setting Good Financial Goals

So, what should you take into account when setting good financial goals?

Examine Your Current Financial Situation: Financially, where are you right now and where do you want to be in the future? Be honest. A good financial goal is only as successful as you allow it to be. Setting an unrealistic or un-achievable goal will only cause disappointment in the long run. Set a goal that you feel good about and that you want to actually work to achieve.
Create Multiple Goals: There are different goals for every stage of your debt management journey. If you are looking to succeed, set a number of goals to help stay on track along the way. Try to set goals with different lengths of time:
- Short term goals: Short term goals range from 1 month to 1 year. An example of a short term goal could be to have a discretionary income after paying bills.
- Mid-term goals: Mid-term goals range from 1-5 years. A mid-term goal could be to get out of debt in the next 5 years.
- Long term goals: Long term goals are 5 years or longer. A long term financial goal could be to pay off your mortgage or be debt free. Achieving goals along the way will reinforce your motivation to achieve that long term goal which, at first, may feel so out of reach.
Stay SMART: When setting financial goals, make sure your goals are SMART. This ensures that your financial goal will not be too broad, vague, or so far in the future that the goal will fall to the wayside. SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timely