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Factors which determine your Financial Priorities

Written by R. A. Stewart

Everyone has their own life to live and what this means is that everyone has their own unique set of circumstances which determines how they spend their money.

It is called setting priorities and there is no one size fits all when it comes to designing a life. As far as money is concerned, setting priorities is what we all do even if we are not consciously aware of it.

There are several factors which determine how you are going to spend your money:

The main ones being:

Your income level

The cost of living

Your health

Your age

Your marital status

Whether you have children

Your debt level

Your money goals

Your risk profile

The choices you make will have a major influence on your financial priorities. It is no secret that many people are simply broke because they have made wrong choices in life, not only how they spend their money but made some major mistakes such as getting involved with the wrong person or having kids out of wedlock. Having to pay child maintenance if your ex-partner or ex-wife is the one taking care of the children is going to kill off any chances you have of getting ahead financially.

If you are young, single, and smart, you will afford this kind of a life and live a prosperous life.

Age is a major factor in determining your priorities. Someone aged in their 60s will have different priorities than a person in their 20s.The young ones will be able to take more risks with their money because they have more time to recover from  a financial setback such as a share market tumble. A 65 year old is not going to set goals with a 30 year deadline but the twenty and thirty somethings do this all the time when they take out a mortgage.

There are several factors which will hinder your chances of any kind of financial success. Smoking, drugs, alcohol, and debt are the main ones. It is sad that some folk will prioritize their spending on cigarettes rather than buying good wholesome food for their children.

As far as these things are concerned it is important for the young ones in particular to make decisions which their future self will thank them for. I mean, honestly, I can thank my younger self for not taking up this disgusting habit. Another decision which I can thank my younger self for was my decision to join and contribute to a retirement savings scheme. In New Zealand it is called Kiwisaver.

About this article: This article is of the opinion and experience of the writer and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances therefore discretion advised. You may use this article as content for your blog or website.

Read my other articles at www.robertastewart.com

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Setting Goals is an Art

Setting goals do not have to involve money on its own. If you set goals based on money then your life is out of balance. It is important to decide what is important to you and is the vehicle to helping you to achieve those aims. In short, money should not be your number one aim.

If you accept a job with a higher pay then you had better weight up everything that the job involves such as the hours of work, the commute to the job, and responsibilities that come with the job and then decide whether it is worth all of the hassle.

It all depends on your personal circumstances and preferences. There is no size that fits everyone when it comes to goal setting. There is no such thing as “should” even though there are people who think others should do this or do that.

Personal goals are something which are personal to you. Here are some examples of personal goals:

Learning to swim

Learning a new language (specify)

Learning to drive

Learning to use the coffee machine

Learning to salsa dance

Reading the Bible from cover to cover

Meeting your favourite sports player

joining a sports club (specify)

The most important factor in determining your personal goals is your passions. The other factor is your talents. These two are often linked. Whatever most interests you is often where your talents lie but that does not mean that you cannot learn anything new. Most skills and talents are transferable.

We often see international sports people using the skills which enabled them to reach the elite level in their chosen sport to help them succeed in their chosen career after they have retired. Many have prepared themselves for life after sport by studying to gain a degree during their playing days.

It pays to have a number of strings to your bow as a backup.

You have to specify what your goal is otherwise it just becomes a wish and anyone can make a wish but it is taking action which will turn a dream into reality.

If you went to your travel agent and asked for a plane ticket they are unable to help you unless you were specific and told them your proposed destination.

Examples of vague goals which are non-specific are:

To lose weight

To get fit

To be happy

To save money

The problem with vague goals is that there is no way of knowing when you have achieved your goal. Goals need to be specific and timed. A goal of “To deposit at least a grand into my retirement fund by June 30th, 2023 is a specific and timed goal. You have either achieved your goal or not.

A get fit goal may be “To be able to run a 5k fun run by 31 December 2023.” This is another example of a specific goal which has been timed.

Giving your goals a timeline will give you more motivation. Just telling yourself that one day or someday I will do such and such is not a goal; it is a wish and there is a big difference between wishing for something and being serious about achieving it.

Life needs to be in balance and it is important to consider your personal talents and preferences. Many people have achieved extraordinary success in their chosen field and despite not setting out to make money have accumulated a great sum of money doing something they enjoyed.

The key here is to not make money your number one goal in life.

www.robertastewart.com

 

 

 

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Making the right financial choices

Making the right financial choices

Written by R. A. Stewart

Think of your life as a jigsaw puzzle and your choices as parts of the jigsaw. You need to make the right choices which fit into your life. A choice which is right for one person may not necessarily be right for another. It is just a matter of discovering your “why” and setting goals.

It is no secret that people make choices which lead to poverty. Smoking, alcohol, drugs, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and frittering away their money are some of the main reasons why many people are poor. 

Lack of financial literacy is at the heart of all of this because someone who has set themselves money goals will become more motivated to give up their vices.

What are the right choices?

That all depends on your passions, skills and talents. 

What gets you up in the morning? What do you look forward to?

The things you have a passion for tend to be the same things you have a talent for. Skills can be developed but if you don’t have any aptitude for a particular then you are better off looking elsewhere for fulfilment.

When I was at school, the boys did woodwork class and the girls did cooking and sewing. I did not have any kind of aptitude for woodwork and was always at the bottom of the class. I think if I had been at the cookery class, I would have found my niche. Some of the girls may have thrived working with tools. As one teacher at high school told us a couple of years later when trying to persuade some guys to take up cooking lessons, “All of the best cooks in the world are men.”

The point being, that when setting money goals, one size does not necessarily fit all. 

What are the differences then?

People have different financial circumstances. Some are married, some are single, some are mature, some are young. It all depends on what your personal goals and your needs are.

Once you have worked out your goals it is just a matter of figuring out how to achieve them.

When deciding on where to invest your money, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this investment?” Once you know the answer to that you will have a fairer idea of which type of investment suits your aims.

About this article

This article is of the writer’s opinion and may not be applicable to your own personal circumstances therefore discretion is advised. You are welcome to use this article as content for your blog/website or ebook.

Www.robertastewart.com