If you haven’t already started thinking about how to reach your money goals, what are you waiting for? Implementing smart financial strategies can help you achieve a high level of satisfaction while allowing you to prepare for the future. In this guide, we’ve put together financial strategies to help you reach your money goals.
10 Financial Strategies
1. Write down your goals, and then visualize them
It’s hard to achieve anything without a plan. To kick things off, try writing down your money objectives, how you’ll measure progress, a time frame for achieving your goal, and which steps you’ll take to ensure progress. Write all of this down, and then visualize it.
Visualization is a powerful tool that can help you reach any goal, including your money objectives. Before starting your financial strategies, make them a reality in your head. Doing so will motivate you to stay on your path and reinforce the belief that you can achieve your targets.
2. Review your current spendings and finances
You won’t be able to track where you’re going without knowing where you’ve come from. Therefore, you should spend some time looking at your current financial situation, how much you spend regularly, and where you could make changes with your expenditure.
Place extra emphasis on your spending habits, as this is where you can make the biggest savings. That doesn’t mean that you need to start living frugally, but you might find that you can cut a few hundred dollars per month here and there, which can be reinvested in your financial future.
3. Build an emergency fund
Having an emergency fund is like having a “freedom” fund. Family situation, health emergency, or just want to take some time off–you’ll be set with a 6-12 month emergency fund to tackle whatever life throws at you.
Therefore, it’s important that you factor in some flexible emergency cash that you can take out right away as well as your long-term financial goals so you don’t get thrown off track if something unexpected happens. Take a look at the different types of investment options or simply open up a savings account. Whichever route you take, saving half of your discretionary cash every month until you have a small emergency fund is a good way to start on your journey to long-term success.
4. Leverage free money
There’s every chance that your employer offers financial-led plans, such as group life insurance and retirement options. And while these alone probably aren’t enough to help you achieve your money goals, they can help along the way. But first, you need to know what they are.
Make sure that you familiarize yourself with any employee benefits you receive and study the finer details to see what they entail. Look at aspects like matching contributions, as well as health savings accounts. They could act as a way to accumulate savings faster.
5. Get into a wealth accumulation mindset
Growing wealth is the way to reach your money goals, and you can start straight away. With options like permanent life insurance, you’ll benefit from a cash-value element that allows you to build wealth while you’re still alive. Many people don’t realize there are life insurance options designed to help you and your loved ones, both in life and death.
With a permanent policy, you pay into two pots: death benefit and cash value. Both of these grow over time, meaning you can enjoy access to cash during your later years in life, thanks to the cash value growing over time. Plus, you also get the bonus of a death benefit to leave to your family. That’s a win-win.
6. Think about the tax
Most savings accounts require you to pay tax on the money you grow. With a permanent life insurance policy, however, any wealth you build is accessible completely tax-free. That means you don’t need to worry about writing a cheque to the IRS when you enjoy the money you’ve accrued.
With a permanent life insurance policy, you essentially borrow against yourself with 0% interest when it comes to accessing your funds–and you can’t pay yourself taxes, so it’s tax-free. Then, when you pass, your death benefit covers the amount borrowed, with the rest going to your beneficiaries.
7. Diversify your portfolio
You can diversify your portfolio by investing in different types of accounts. Doing so will give you more options and potentially help you realize your money goals faster. It also helps you manage the risk while keeping your goals in sight with a smart financial strategy.
Let’s look at savings accounts, for example. Why not keep your money in more than one account to grow your potential options? From your 401(K) to tax-advantaged life insurance and stocks and bonds, there are lots of ways to invest for your future that’ll help you reach those money goals a little bit quicker.
8. Think about a side hustle
We’re not suggesting that you burn the candle at both ends and take on too much responsibility. But a side hustle can be a great way of giving your finances an injection to help you earn more money, which you can then invest smartly.
While taking on an extra 20 hours per week on top of your full-time job might not be the best use of time, there are some side hustles out there which can help you boost your cash flow. For example, perhaps you have a hobby that you can use to earn some extra income away from your primary job?
9. Get professional advice
Other than reading this guide, there are plenty of resources out there where you can get financial advice. Having an outside perspective can open your mind to new ideas and help you focus on aspects you weren’t initially considering.
You could speak to a financial advisor who will assess your current financial health and work with you to set realistic goals. They often come at a cost, but sometimes you need to invest a little in the short term to see beneficial returns in the long term.
10. Put plans in place to set you up for retirement
Your money goals might not necessarily account for retirement, as you’re thinking more about the medium and short-term possibilities. But anyone who wants to enjoy financial freedom should factor in how they will fund the later years of their lives.
So review your retirement savings plan and ensure that your goals are on course to help you out later in life. That could include utilizing your employer’s 401(K), reviewing current budget and spending habits, and getting a life insurance policy that looks after you later in life, which brings us nicely to our bonus round...
(Bonus: Get a permanent life insurance policy. Seriously)
Look, we’re just going to go ahead and say it: a permanent life insurance policy is a great way to achieve your money goals. With its cash-value aspect and tax-free savings, you can build up your wealth over the long term. What’s not to like about that?
On top of that, your premiums are locked in from the minute you sign up: you’ll never see them increase while you still have the policy. Therefore, it’s a great investment during your 20s and 30s and can work well with your other financial strategies to help improve your financial outlook.
It also has a death benefit, so even if the worst were to happen, you could make sure that your loved ones don’t financially struggle when you’re no longer around. Just think of permanent life insurance as a strategy that helps you cover all bases.
In conclusion: finding the best financial strategies With these tips, you can feel more confident about your finances. Having the right vision, working hard, and finding the best way to invest will help you build wealth, reach your money goals, and allow you to look forward to the future.