Setting Your Goals

Goal Creation in Three Easy Steps

Whether you are planning for your retirement or for your child’s education, your tax-efficient investment strategies are a reflection of your personal goals.

Sometimes however, knowing what you want can be as difficult as knowing how to get there.

Below are three easy steps that will help you determine your goals and priorities. 

1. To effectively set your goals and determine your portfolio mix, you need to get a clear idea where you want to go:

Write down in order of importance:

1. Enough for retirement.
   
2. Enough to send my children to college.
   
3. Business investment.
   
4. Enough to care for a relative.
   
5. Creative pursuit.
   
6. Travel.
   
7. Other.

2. How much time you have to save for each of your goals? For example, you may be planning your retirement in 10, 20, or 30 years. Or you may have a goal to open your own business in 18 months.

3. Determine the gap. How much do you need and how much do you have? Below is a list of *calculators that can help you determine how much you’ll need to save each year to meet these goals.

• Rework Your Budget
  
• Inflation Impact on Retirement
  
• How Will My Savings Grow?
  
• Retirement Fund
  

If you’re unsure or if this step is stressful then contact Robert Troyano CFP®, CPA today and schedule your complimentary, no-obligation 60 minute wealth management evaluation.

*These interactive calculators are intended as an educational tool, not investment advice. The information presented is not intended to advise you of strategies applicable to your specific situation but rather to highlight issues for your own consideration. Therefore, you should also always consult your financial or tax advisor. Your own goals will help you develop a specific financial strategy. This tool is provided as a rough approximation. The results presented by this calculator are hypothetical and may not reflect the actual growth. Investments offering the potential for higher rates of return also involve a higher degree of risk to principal. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/education/study-shows-college-degrees-value-during-economic-downturn.html?_r=0