Figures released recently show that 49%* of UK adults are not currently making enough provision for their retirement. The problem for most people is not that they plan to fail but that they simply fail to plan.

The good news is that 80%* are actually saving towards retirement, but obviously a large proportion of those diligent savers have lost sight of their target or they didn’t establish one in the first place. So is it any wonder that only 51%* of people are putting enough away each month.

* Source: Scottish Widows UK Pensions Report, June 2011.

Only you can make it happen.

This is true of any financial goals that people have for themselves or their loved ones, whether it’s to pay for a house deposit, a university education, a new car or true financial independence. Without goals and a plan on how to meet those goals the things you want and more importantly need are just not that likely to happen.

To make your goals happen they have to mean something to you, otherwise you just won’t be motivated to take action, and without action you’re never going to get there.

Setting Achievable Financial Goals

The key to setting financial goals is priority: What’s most important to you and your family. We would all have a very long list of things that we would like to do financially but not all of them are achievable. When you put together your list you need to go through it assigning a priority to those goals that are essentials such as having enough money in retirement. Ranking your goals helps you to decide where to devote your resources and energy especially if you don’t have the resources to achieve them all, and most people don’t, so you can concentrate on the most important ones.

Determine how to hit your targets: Achieving both long term and short time financial goals can be a complicated matter especially when managing multiple goals. Varying investment performance and returns coupled with constantly changing legislature can mean you need to make constant adjustments in order to maintain your course and hit the target amount and date. A holistic financial planning process that includes regular reviews can help you to stay on track and mange your needs.

Impose the me tax: Once you have set your goals and calculated what is achievable given your resources and current position you need to impose what I like to call the “me tax”. It’s one of the guiding principles of financial planning that you pay yourself first and the “me tax” does just that. You ensure that the investment sums necessary to meet your goals leave your pay packet as soon as it arrives and you budget your lifestyle out of what’s left, including debt repayments and every other cost of living. It can be hard at first to adjust but you soon will and you will forget about the money you’re putting away each month, because it’s just another tax.

Monitor, measure and adjust: Whatever your plans are both long term and short you need to sit down at least once a year and track your progress and make any adjustments necessary either to your priorities or to the actions your taking towards hitting your goals.

Regardless of whether your an existing client or your visiting this website for the first time if you would like a no obligation chat about how the “Holistic Financial Planning Process With Annual Monitoring” can help you meet your goals then please just get in touch. You can email me here or call 0191 406 6453, if you do not reach me first time I’m probably with another client so please keep trying or leave a voicemail with your number and best time to call you back.