We have seen so many new years & so many resolutions too. Some resolutions are achieved & some are failed to be achieved. But what matters is who tried to achieve those resolutions sincerely & who did not. Nobody can achieve all the goals set in life, but one thing is for sure that whoever write down goals on a paper definitely has the intent to achieve & is sure to gain more. Here I would like to mark few goals for 2019 which will definitely lead you towards the road to Financial Freedom.
Identify Financial Goals
Write down all your financial goals (short-medium-long term) on a paper with deadlines. Share those goals with a good financial advisor, who will then make a financial plan to achieve those goals. Never ever invest without having a definite financial goal. Always keep your financial goals realistic & monitor them annually. Your goals can be anything car, education, retirement, home purchase, foreign travel or even buying anything specific like buying a luxury watch.
“Investing without Investment Objective is like a Traveler without Destination”
Commit to Health & Fitness
Start doing a physical exercise or start playing an outdoor game regularly. Physical activity will keep you happy & fit. It will also boost your productivity while at work, making each and every day productive. After all Health is Wealth.
Payoff your Credit Card Debts
Pay back your credit card debt or other high rated debts first. If you can’t pay all of the outstanding, then at least pay as much as you can. Don’t get stuck up in credit card debt trap.
Enhance your Investments for Retirement
Commit yourself to enhance your contributions for your retirement goal. Retirement is your utmost financial goal & is superior to any other financial goal. Be wise in choosing the asset class for managing your retirement fund. This long term money if wisely managed can do wonders for you & if not, then can turn out to be the biggest financial mistake of your life. Here power of compounding will get lot of time to show its power. Always remember only you can finance your retirement, no bank will help you in that
Don’t invest just to save tax
Most of the people in order to save tax land up investing in worthless financial products which will never fulfill their investment objective. Always invest wisely even when investing for sec 80 C benefit. There are products which will give you both advantages Tax benefit as well as Wealth Creation.
Set a budget for expenses
Make an expense budget & stick to it. Most of the people make budget and don’t review it regularly. That’s why their expenses go overboard because they don’t spend according to the plan. It’s tough but if you can do that, then you will achieve extraordinary results in the long run. A few thousand saved monthly through budgeting can add a lot of fortune to your retirement fund. Like an additional Rs. 5000 or 10000 investment per month @12% can add Rs 85 lakh or 1.70 Crore to your fortune in 25 years.
“Do not save what is left after spending;
instead spend what is left after saving.”
Warren Buffett
Say ‘No’ to impulsive buying
Most of the people are impulsive buyers, to be true I was also one of them. Earlier, whenever I used to go with my friends just to assist them for shopping, I ended up buying for myself; things I actually didn’t need at that point in time. Happy to say I got rid of it long ago. Also don’t get carried away by discount ads or have an obsession to shop regularly. Buy only what you need, don’t create needs just because things are at a discount…. I hope this time you will not buy anything while assisting your friend for shopping or getting swayed away by discount ads.
Get a health check-up
Have a health check-up annually to prevent any ailment getting converted into a major disease. You already know it “Prevention is better than Cure”. Even many health insurance plans have free annual health check-up but very few people avail that facility. This small expense annually can save you from a bigger expense later.
Corporate Employees get a Top-up Health Insurance Plan
Even if your employer provides you with a group insurance health plan, you need to have a top-up health policy for you and your family. It’s premium will be far less than a normal basic health policy, but it will really help you later when you will retire or leave the job. Will discuss about Top-up Health plan in my next post.
Evaluate last year’s financial mistakes & take action
Review your last year’s resolution & check what you planned and how much you achieved. Analyse and take corrective action. Also review your old investments which were done without having a proper planning & are not in line to our plan. People often ignore old investments saying; what’s done is done, let’s start afresh. It’s good to start fresh, but not at the cost of ignoring older portfolio. Realigning portfolio is also of utmost priority. We can’t lead a successful life until we throw the baggage of past mistakes, they will keep us haunting. There is no point in carrying baggage, if you want to walk far.
Read a Book
Reading is the best we can do with ourself in the life. Reading provides clarity in our thought process & change the way we look at things. It gives us a vision to analyse things deeply & laterally. Here reading means reading books & not magazines or tabloids, which do nothing more than propagating either false knowledge or half truth. I know you can find a good book from the book store, as all of them are good in some way or the another
“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.”
Jim Rohn
Let’s make 2019 the year of Financial & Physical fitness