INTRODUCTION

You should take charge of your finances now, it’s never too soon to implement a sound financial plan —although a long time horizon is an advantage.

Financial planning is very personal. It involves an examination of how you use your money and what you want to happen for yourself financially in the future.

• Everyone has different wants and needs, such as a house, education, or travel.
• Everyone places a different value on lifestyle choices.
• Everyone has different ideas about retirement.

Financial planning requires setting goals. You must assess what your real spending requirements are before you can anticipate how much you can save. This assessment involves a hard look at what expenditures are truly necessary to maintain your lifestyle and what could be foregone in order to achieve some of your dreams.

In traditional financial planning, a six-step process is used to plan for the future. These steps require you to:

1. Assess your current financial position.
2. Establish goals and objectives.
3. Identify obstacles and opportunities.
4. Build your plan—solutions and alternatives.
5. Take action—implement your plan.
6. Review periodically.

A financial plan addresses:

• Savings and debt
• Investing
• Retirement planning
• Life and death (insurance, wills and estate planning)
• Tax planning
• Life events

The material on this website will help you develop your own financial plan and your financial planning skills. You’re the only one who can determine your priorities and the level of commitment you are willing to make.

Look in the mirror. Visualize what your future self will look like in 10, 20 or even 30 years. Will that future self be financially stressed or financially secure? Start with the end in mind. Build your financial planning skills today; create a solid foundation and peace of mind for your future self.