Free Money Matters.com

Where do you think you're going?

If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else.

- Yogi Berra

How to Plan for Success

Before we even start talking about how to achieve financial success, there is something that is fundamentally imporant that has to be discussed.  This is something that they don't talk about in financial planning seminars, or something that your financial planner will ask you.  But this is something that is more important than learning about making money, this is about learning about who you are and what your dreams are.  The first thing to do before you learn about how to make money is to answer a daunting question:

1. Ask yourself what do you want out of life?

This is the question I find that always pops up from time to time.  This question asks what do you want or dream about that you want to succeed in life?

Some people dream about "things" and define success collectively as material, they want to live in a mansion, drive the latest cadillac, fly around in a private jet and hit Paris for all the latest fashions.  For others, it is not about "things" but something less tangible, a personal self satisfaction that can come from working hard at a meaningful career or helping others in the community.  Some people want to be remembered by writing a book, or becoming an actor.

Success is totally about perspective and it really depends on who you are as a person and what your dreams truly are.

During different stages of my life i wanted to accomplish different things.  My goals and dreams were varied as I was growing up, when i was a teenager I wanted cars and girls, when i was in University my goal was to graduate with honors, when starting my career i wanted to get ahead.  Now as I have gotten older my priorites have shifted to my family.  Collectively, all of these personal accomplishments, in my perspective, amount to a successful personal life that I have worked very hard for.

Whatever your idea of success is, your heart should be in it and you should be passionate about how you will achieve your success.

I would recommend spending a day to think about what is important to you in your life, who are the people you care about and do they fit into your dream of success.  If you do, I guarantee that will be one of the most gratifying experiences and also one of the most helpful and personal defining days in your life.  It can be looked at as defining a roadmap to helping you achieve your dreams and goals in life. 

Man of Value

Try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value.

- Albert Einstein

How to Plan for Success

What does it mean to be successfull? 

This question covers a lot of ground and can't easily be answered in a sentence.  Success means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  It can mean getting ahead at your career - reaching the point where you have dreamt to be since you started working - it can mean creating a net worth that allows you to retire early

BUT success can also mean being content with who you are and what you do - I personally believe that a person must be happy with his/her job and want to do it well and also be happy with themselves as a person - if you have achieved all of your financial goals and are not happy with your personal life then what was the point of your ascent to financial gain - the key is to temper your financial success with personal success - make sure that you keep the people that you care about and love in your life are not sacrificed for the financial gains that you think you can make - always keep that in perspective and you will have a successful life -

Don't wanna work?

If you don't want to work, you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work.

- Ogden Nash

How to Plan for Success

Do you need a plan for the future?  Do you have a plan? I don't mean to sound like a commercial!  Everyone needs to plan for the future but does everybody have a plan -- what does it do for you "having plan"?

Do you just need to plan for retirement?  Or do you need to plan other things in your life over long periods of time?  Can you actually do this or is it just "crazy talk"?

What kind of things can you actually plan long-term and is it actually possible to plan other things other than retirement over the long haul?

Well, the answer is "yes" and successful people do this all the time. 

How do they do this?

The simple answer is that they paint a "big picture scenario" and work within the confines of that big picture to achieve what they want.  It is not something easy and accomplished quickly -- it takes time and a lot of planning.  I have worked with a lot of rich people and have observed how they have achieved their goals and it is only with a lot of planning have they accumulated success time after time.

So how do you paint any "big picture scenario"?  Is there a secret formula, you have to be rich to understand how to do this?

Financial Goal

Here is my financial goal...real simple...

I want to retire!

I like my job and I will probably work until I am 65 - I know a lot of other people that hate their jobs or want to pursue their hobbies full time and want to get out of the rat race as soon as they can and shoot for an early retirement age of around 50 to 55

What do I want to do while I am retired is something my wife and I are still trying to figure out -

Talking with my wife is the first thing I did when I started looking into retirement - she has some similar and some different ideas about retirement - some of these things include living close to our kids, thinking about if want to travel a lot, do we want to live in a warm climate, should we work part time, volunteering in the community, etc.

Lately, the topic of retirement comes up at least once a week in our house, in the evening, when the kids are in bed and my wife and I are sitting in the living room relaxing - we start talking about retirement and some of our plans - and then realty sets in....

how are we gonna pay for this!!!