27 June 2006

Reaching financial goals starts with a plan

Planning for retirement is a daunting task, but according to the article on MSN Money Put a price tag on your dreams, “Placing a dollar figure on where you want to end up is the first step toward getting there.”

Psychologist Lois Frankel, author of Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich, says “all of us have a pretty good shot at achieving our financial goals if we take the time to figure them out, construct a plan to make them happen and then work that plan. Figuring out our target numbers should be part of that planning.” She defines “the number” as “the amount of money that would allow you to live your life the way you want to without worrying about not having enough.”

There are lots of tools available to help you develop your finacial goal strategy. SmartMoney.com offers Retirement Worksheets to help you chart your path to financial security in your retirement. These worksheets make the task more easy, but they caution it is still work:

“Be forewarned: These worksheets will take some time to complete. But when you’re done, you’ll have a dependable estimate of 1) How much annual retirement income you’ll need. 2) How much you can count on from your pension and Social Security benefits. 3) What your total nest egg must be, and 4) How much you need to put away this year to begin to reach that goal.“