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What are your wealth goals? So you want to be wealthy and you want to be rich- but what does that mean exactly! 

Too many people ‘want’ but don’t know exactly what. It’s not just about money but about everything – they want to have a business, be happy, have a love life, etc. Follow the tried and tested SMART method to planning your goals – financial and otherwise.

S – Specific – Visualize exactly what you want. Be as descriptive as possible. Define it to death! Define it so well that you can almost reach out and touch it.  Financially for example, that means knowing exactly what kind of house you want – how many bedrooms, square meters, color, furnishings, etc. Doing this allows you to better focus on your goal – the details really matter.

M – Measurable – How do you know how near or far you are from your goal? Athletes use timers to find out if their achieving their target speed. Weight watchers the scale, travellers the distance travels. A numerical value is a great way to track your progress. The good news is that for wealth goals – the Peso amount is easy to establish after some research. In the house example above that could be Php1M to sky high. In addition to helping you track your progress – how close or far you are from your goal, having measurable wealth goals also determines your investment and exit strategy. 

A – Attainable – Here’s where your maturity plays a very very important part! You can dream all you want about having Php1M tomorrow but that’ll only happen if you win the lotto and what are the odds of that? So you want to take a trip around the world next month but you only have Php1000 in your bank account? Where there’s a will there’s a way! There are simple paths, complicated paths, easy paths and difficult paths… How you get to where you want to go is entirely up to you BUT key there is knowing that there is an actual path for you to take. It has to be attainable. There have to be things YOU CAN DO to achieve your goal. If the only action expected of you is to wait then it’s probably never going to happen. Attainable means Actionable. Reach for the stars and keep 2 feet firmly on the ground.

R – Relevant – It has to be realistic for you – that means if you make Php10,000 a month and can realistically only afford to set aside Php1,000 per month then it’s not realistic to target getting Php100,000 by the end of the year. Do you have kids-people who will be affected by your financial decisions? In this case, your goals have to be relevant. It has to find harmony with all the obligations and aspirations you have in your life.

T – Time Bound – Last but not the least. When do you want to achieve this goal? How much time are you giving yourself? Putting a deadline to your goal is a very important in pushing yourself to achieving them.

Work SMART not just hard!

Building #onewealthynation one Filipino at a time!

In this Series:

• JANUARY: Follow my money. This 2014, I will know exactly where every centavo I have goes.
• FEBRUARY: I will know how much I am worth today. I will have my own Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
• MARCH: I will start saving. Income – Savings = Expenses. I will set a target amount and set it aside before I spend.
• APRIL: I will seriously assess my spending habits. I will make the decision to RETAIN, REDUCE, ELIMINATE some of the things I spend on and put my money to better use.
• MAY: I will invest in debt – in growing out of bad debt. I will increase my payments so I can pay off the debt faster.
• JUNE: I will learn (something new) about growing my money. Read a book, attend a workshop, check out blogs and videos all about money management and investing.
• JULY: I will identify my wealth goals. Protection. Life Goals. Retirement. How much do I need? When do I need it?
• AUGUST: I will prioritize securing my protection – financial protection: Emergency Funds, Cash Reserves & Insurance.
• SEPTEMBER: I will learn to understand the news about global and local economy, financial markets and business and keep myself updated as these affect my finances.
• OCTOBER: I will select at least three mutual funds to consider investing in and study the risks and rewards of each.
• NOVEMBER: I will open a mutual fund account for my Life Goals and Retirement and start building wealth.
• DECEMBER: I will update my Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and assess my progress versus my SALN from the start of the year.