Financial planning: little money; bright life

How effectively can the larger goals be achieved by smaller investments?

06:54 26 August 2013

When your personal financial future seems a little bleak, here are a few tips that might help:

• Analyse your goals to make sure that what you’re trying to do is actually achievable. There is no sense in hanging onto goals that the economy or your financial situation will render impossible. Try to revise goals so that they are more realistic.

 

• Break long-term goals into smaller increments. If you have milestones to reach, you’ll have a better idea where you stand, and you’ll feel much better when you do reach a milestone, even if it’s a little off schedule.

 

• Consult professional financial help when you have some money saved up. A wise investment could make the difference between never achieving your financial goals and exceeding them.

 

• Keep an open mind and look for opportunities to enhance your employment position, get extra education, or certifications. Increasing your skill set will make you a more valuable employee and increases your job security.

 

• Though it isn’t much fun, sometimes reducing expenses and scaling back on your lifestyle is the single most effective thing you can do to make immediate improvements in your financial situation. The sooner you have improvements, the sooner you’ll be closer to meeting those future financial goals. You might feel so good about being on a better path that you won’t notice the changes in lifestyle that much.

Don’t forget that friends and family are great resources for lots of different types of advice, including financial.