Money is not an easy thing to talk about. I find it deeply personal to discuss finances with anyone. This includes my husband and he is the same way with me. We have both been dual income earners since the beginning of our relationship and once we got married, he was fine with letting me handle the finances. Probably not the best move but I got us through 17+ years. However, I was so busy building a life that I loved and making short-term plans, that I failed to plan for our future. We both did. I mean, we have a couple of IRAs each from previous jobs – nothing huge at all. We also have a few small college accounts for the kids, but that's it. We hope that How to Make Financial Plans for the Future post resonates with you.
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Talking about money means talking about discussing what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. It means setting personal goals and being held accountable. It means taking a hard look at exactly what you are doing right now and where you want to be in the future. This can be tough for anyone. Writing about it is hard. I feel exposed but I am ok with being a cautionary tale because I believe we are on the right path.
Seriously this is crucial. Taking that first step or any step toward your finances is a big deal. Now make it a habit. Once you decide to start this planning, commit to it and schedule it on your calendar like we did. We discuss finances every week at the same time we can make certain that we are meeting our goals. These meetings also make it easier to discuss our finances.
Not currently saving? This will be easy then. Save $5 a week just to get into the habit of putting money aside. I had an accounting professor who told our class, “If you cannot live on what you are making now, live on $5 less.” That was profound to me because I immediately started saving money. As a young 20-year-old, of course, I was living paycheck to paycheck as I worked my way through college. But his advice caused me to put my savings first and when I bought my first house years later, I could put 20% down with my savings.
We decided to do several budgets when figuring out what works best for our family. We budget weekly, monthly, and yearly. This helped us identify times of year when we spend more and when we need to save more. For instance, our gas bill triples in two to three of the winter months so I needed to adjust the budget for these added expenses when it's colder outside. Doing this yearly budget led us to our next step.
Once we saw what we spent yearly for natural gas, we decided to price shop to see if we could get a better rate. We did and ended up reducing our costs by 25%, then did the same thing with our cellphones and cable plus scheduled an energy audit with our power company. We also priced out some items that we have subscriptions for and saved a little money.
You can't talk with someone you aren't comfortable with and so finding the right financial professional is important. This is going to be a long-term relationship and with something lasting for years, both parties should genuinely like each other. Mutual trust and respect are important in any relationship. We were thrilled to find that instant connection with our financial professional, Lola Gena Pappas.
What I especially loved about our Prudential Financial Professional is that she immediately made us feel comfortable. We met her at my favorite local deli. She brought up my fears and addressed them before I had the chance. She carried the conversation which I loved because I was already nervous about the topic so being led by her was what we needed. My husband chatted with her as well and asked a few questions. We left this meeting feeling like she could help us. Most importantly, we walked away knowing this was something we could do. We've got this. We hope that you find this How to Make Financial Plans for the Future post valuable. Good luck!
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It is so important to get a second or third look on your finances just like your health. I am lucky my husband watches our money and saves whenever we can and regularly.
You can never be too prepared when it comes to securing your financial future. We sit down every year and go through our expenses and see where we could trim the fat. Getting a second look is a good idea too!
I love Prudential! They put me on the right track to create a future I would be proud of!
These are really awesome tips! Love that Prudential helps you secure your financial future. Would love to look at their plans.
When it comes to saving, the earlier you start, the better. Love all your tips because they’re all effective and true. When you think you really need help, it’s good to seek a professional to help sort your finances and give you a path to follow so you can save better for your future!
Yes! It’s so important. Time has gone by so fast since we had our kids and saving is definitely a priority. I want them to have something for college and also retirement so we can be comfortable as we age. Yes to the professional too! Sometimes a stranger can look at your information and see things in a completely different and eye-opening way. Thanks so much for sharing!
My husband and I have done all these. We worked hard so that we could retire early at 58. We downsized to our RV and now travel fulltime.
I have done absolutely all the steps. I am meticulous about my budget but it took me a long time to get there and a lot of pitfalls. Now that I am at the point that I can save even a little bit helps.
It’s never too late to start planning for your financial future. These are all great tips to start doing that!
I went back to work last summer after being home for 9 years, and one of the main things we are focusing on is saving more! The rest of these are great tips, too, so we will have to start on those, as well!
These are some great ideas, I have to admit this is the first year I have taken saving really seriously and while I don’t have loads saved, I am making steps in the right direction which is more than I could say before.
Budgeting weekly should be a good goal. You will save a lot quicker too I want to implement this!
These are great tips, you hit the nail on the head with the budget one. We started budgeting and it is a definite lifesaver!
These are all such great tips! I need to be better about making sure to budget every day!
These are such great tips! I already do a few of these things already. I need to make an appointment with a professional to help with our portfolio!
Saving as early as you can is one of the best ways to secure your financial future. We budget as much as we can so we can add more to our savings. I think it’s good to seek help from a professional especially when you’re not sure where to start.
I’m honestly not doing any of these things, sadly. I need to definitely work on this more this year.
Some really great advice in this post. I’ve only begun taking my finances seriously in the last year or so but it actually feels so great to see savings building up.
All of these are great ideas. I think saving up as soon as possible is always a great option. My husband and I have already started savings accounts for our girls when they were very young. We’ve been teaching them about saving money too.
My husband and I just started and IRA. We definitely think it’s smart to start preparing now for the future.
Wow! These are really great ideas! My husband and I are really starting to save more money for our kids. It is really important to save for their future.
Such great tips. Budgeting, taking note of our expenses and saving as much as we can is what we’re doing now. I still would like to talk to a financial professional though and listen to what he/she has to say.
This is wonderful advice. It is never too early or late to secure one’s financial future.
Budgeting weekly it’s a great goal. This way you can implement weekly savings and goals and not procrastinate!
I definitely think it’s a smart idea to get help from a professional. This stuff can be confusing sometimes.
Such good advice! What stood out to me the most was “If you cannot live on what you are making now, live on $5 less.” It’s a great way to start saving, and honestly it’s just $5 at a time! Easy peasy!
So many people think they need to do XYZ to get started. NO! Just do it!
I agree that it is best to start early but sometimes it is too late so catch up is in order. In these cases you need to get more help from the pros.
I have a financial planner who manages my SEP IRA. It was a big step I decided to take once I got in the $200k household range.
Getting help from a professional is always a good idea. It’s never too early to start saving and budgeting.
We definitely need to start saving more and focus on making a plan sooner than later. Retirement will hit us before we know it!
We have done all these. We worked hard so that hubby could retire early! Our goal now is to move to a smaller home once our son goes to college!
Budgeting can be time consuming, but it is so worth it. We we started keeping a budget we realized how much money we were wasting in needless expenses.
We have been working hard on lowering our debt. It’s hard but we’re making progress!