{"id":2751,"date":"2021-03-22T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/?p=2751"},"modified":"2021-03-17T17:09:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T17:09:30","slug":"how-to-achieve-smart-financial-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/how-to-achieve-smart-financial-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Achieve Smart Financial Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;||3px|||&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;]<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Set financially fit goals<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We all are unique, are in different situations and have different aspirations \/ goals in life. It doesn\u2019t matter what your goal is, but you need to have a goal. Without having a goal, you<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">will float through life with no purpose. Goals give purpose. Goals give direction. Goals motivate you to thrive instead of just surviving.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">First of all, set your financial goals in a way that is <strong>SMART<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>S<\/strong>pecific \u2013 define your goal clearly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>M<\/strong>easurable \u2013 set smaller milestones that can be measured.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A<\/strong>chievable \u2013 dream big but be realistic. Your goal must be achievable to keep you motivated.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>R<\/strong>elevant \u2013 it should be relevant to you. Your personal financial goal should be something that inspires you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>T<\/strong>imelines \u2013 establish when you want to achieve what.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you write your goals down, it creates a sense of responsibility and you will be more likely to achieve it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Analyse your current state<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To achieve your financial goals, it is equally important to analyse and understand your current financial status.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ask yourself these questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What is my net worth (assets less liabilities)?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What is my financial freedom number?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much is my monthly income?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much are my monthly expenses?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much debt do I have, and what are the interest rates and repayment periods?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much do I have available as an emergency fund and how much should I have?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much investments do I have, what are the interest rates and how liquid are the investments?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How much do I currently have in my retirement fund and how much do I need at retirement age to retire comfortably?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Do I have adequate life, disability and dread disease cover?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What does my medical aid cover?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Write all the numbers down to obtain an overall picture of your current financial status. Spend time getting to know these numbers and identify some gaps to work on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Compile your plan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To progress from your current financial status to where you want to be, you need a detailed plan. When compiling your plan:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Be realistic;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Do it in detail;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Set timeframes;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Include calculations; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Break it up into smaller milestones.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Once you have a plan written down, you are set to achieve your financial goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Take action<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As with anything else in life, you need to take action to make it happen. Without taking action, your goal remains a dream. Without changing your current actions, you won\u2019t get a different result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You need to make an effort to put your financial plan into action. It starts with a choice and only you can make that choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Start small but start. Once you have started, it quickly becomes a habit and becomes easier. Take action to make your financial goal your reality or else it will remain a dream only. You will not regret it. Visualise your financial future, knowing that nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it and take action steps to achieve it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>This article contains extracts from the book \u2018Financially Fit and Wealthy\u2019. To learn more about the book \u2013 <\/em><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/roneljooste.com\/financiallyfitandwealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\">click here<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>To download your FREE Financial Goalsetting workbook \u2013 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/financiallyfitlife\/financialgoalsetting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\">click here<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;2px|||||&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.8.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">We offer a R300 discount on both our Effective Budgeting and Master Investments 101 online courses to celebrate Money Smart Week South Africa. Offer expires 31 March 2021.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Effective Budgeting online course:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/financiallyfitlifeacademy.com\/effectivebudgeting\/\" style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\">https:\/\/financiallyfitlifeacademy.com\/effectivebudgeting\/<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Master Investments 101 online course:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/financiallyfitlifeacademy.com\/masterinvestments\/\" style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\">https:\/\/financiallyfitlifeacademy.com\/masterinvestments\/<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all are unique, are in different situations and have different aspirations \/ goals in life. It doesn\u2019t matter what your goal is, but you need to have a goal. Without having a goal, you<br \/>\nwill float through life with no purpose. Goals give purpose. Goals give direction. Goals motivate you to thrive instead of just surviving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[209,210,187,44],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2762,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/2762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financiallyfitlife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}