Most people have goals in life, whether they are fitness, career or personal achievements, but one of the most important goals, and one that will benefit you throughout your life, is your financial goal.
Head of consumer education at First National Bank, Eunice Sibiya, said setting goals is a way of organising and focusing your attention with a set target in mind.
“Without goal setting, there is no way to motivate yourself or measure your success, and this is vital when it comes to finances,” Sibiya said.
Tips from FNB about handling finances and personal goals:
- Create an action plan for your finances
Your action plan must outline the goals that you want to achieve; a deadline alongside each goal as well as guidelines detailing what you will need to do in order to achieve these goals.
- Deciding on your goal
Have a meeting with yourself and think seriously about what you want to achieve with your finances. Remember that goals are highly personalised as different people have different ambitions and goals. Life stages also influence your goal-setting activities.
- Creating an achievable strategy
You can, and should, have more than one goal at a time, including short and long-term goals. Each goal needs a plan to achieve it as these won’t be magically achieved on their own.
- Working towards the end goal
The first point of call is establishing how much you need to ultimately achieve each goal. If you want to go on holiday at the end of the year and you estimate that it will cost you R10 000 in petrol, accommodation and for all other expenses, you will now need to work towards this using your budget.
Sibiya said, “The best thing about goals is achieving them. Not only will this give you good practise in financial discipline, but will also help you set bigger goals such as retiring comfortably or doing something spectacular seem possible.”
