13 Financial Goals To Set For 2021. In today’s blog post, I share 13 financial goals that you should consider setting for 2021. Setting clear and defined financial goals for 2021 can really set you up for a successful financial year.
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13 Financial Goals To Set For 2021
Goals, goals, GOALS!
We’re 3 weeks into 2021 and I know for many people, the New Year’s resolutions set at the end of December have fallen by the wayside. I’m not big of New Year’s resolutions, but I am a big of setting goals. Over on my YouTube channel, I shared my financial, career and intellectual goals for 2021. You can watch the video below.
I further broke down my income goals in the below video where I share a breakdown of my passive income goals for 2021. Watch the video below.
Have a read of this blog post, where I share how to set SMART goals against Zig Ziglars Wheel of Life. That blog post gives you the recipe you need to ensure you’re setting goals you will actually achieve. In addition to setting achievable goals, it also gives you the framework to ensure you have goals required for all areas of life so that you have a balanced life.
I know many of us set goals for 2020, which thanks to the pandemic, didn’t go according to plan. But this doesn’t mean you should throw in towel and give up on setting goals for this year. Setting clear and defined financial goals for 2021 can really set you up for a successful financial year. Which is why, in today’s blog post, I will be sharing 13 financial goals that you should consider setting for 2021.
13 Financial Goals To Set For 2021
1) Create A Financial Plan
A goal without a plan is simply a wish. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What do you want your finances to look like a year from today? Would you like to buy your first home? Finally become debt free? Have a £10,000 investment portfolio? Write these goals down and then work backwards. Break your 5-year goal down into yearly goals, break the yearly goals down into monthly goals and then break the monthly goals down into daily goals.
2) Start Investing
Get your money working for you. One sure-fire way to increase your income and grow your wealth is to start investing. Investing is a huge topic in itself, so I will not say too much in this blog post. Be sure to subscribe to the blog so that you’re notified each time a new blog post is published.
The main thing to note here is that it’s important to prioritise investing as a money goal for 2021. Invest in things that will make your money, make you more money. There are so many things you can invest in; from self-educations and the stock market to property and start-up businesses. If you’re interested in investing in stocks and shares then check out a couple of my favourite investing platforms:
- Freetrade
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3) Start Budgeting
If you don’t currently have a budget in place, consider starting a budget in 2021. I have been budgeting for the last 5 years and can honestly say this has helped us pay off over £36,000 debt and overpay our mortgage by over £4000 in 2020 despite us going down from a 2 income household to a 1 income household.
Check out my new deluxe budget planner and expenses tracker. This will help you get a plan in place for your income at the start of each month so that you’re not left wondering where it all went at the end of the month.
Review your budget monthly to discover ways to reduce your expenses in order to free up more money to achieve your financial goals. Look at your budget from 2020, what went well, what didn’t go so well, what can you do better?
4) Life Insurance
Life insurance is one of those taboo money topics that we don’t like to discuss, yet it is so important. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the rise in many cases where people are losing loved ones and having to create a Go Fund Me page to raise the costs to cover the expensive funeral costs. This is heartbreaking to see and really doesn’t need to happen.
It’s important to get the right foundation in place. There’s no point building a nice house on a foundation that isn’t solid. Life insurance helps protect your family in the event that something bad happens to you. It’s one thing having to deal with the loss of a loved one without having to deal with the financial implications of that loss. Life insurance will help lighten the load.
There are different life insurances that you can get, from term insurance and full life cover to critical illness cover and loss of earnings cover, there are so many. If at present you don’t have life insurance in place, consider making it a goal to do so in 2021.
5) Write A Will
Without intending to be morbid with this blog post, another important money goal to consider this year is writing a will. A will is a legal document that spells out your wishes regarding the care of your children, as well as the distribution of your assets after your death.
Should the worst happen today, what will happen to your family and all your assets? If you don’t know the answer to this question, it’s time to consider writing a will. Make 2021 the year you get a will in place, so that should the worst happen all your assets go to the right place.
6) Build Emergency Fund
Another financial goal to set for 2021 is to build an emergency fund. If today was payday, and your employer didn’t pay you on time, how long would you be able to survive before you end up in financial trouble? One day? 2 weeks? One month? The length of time that you’ll be able to survive will reveal your current financial position. If you answered less than a month then really make it a priority to save an emergency fund in 2021. Ideally, you want to have at least 3-6 months expenses saved in an easy to access account. This will help buy you time in the event of job loss or any other major expense beyond your control occurs. If you currently have zero savings, start with a goal of £1000 and work your way up from there.
7) Pay Off Debt
If you’re in consumer debt (excluding mortgage), have a steady income and are currently only making minimum payments, commit to overpaying those debts in 2021. Look at ways you can reduce your expenses and increase your income this year so that you can reach your debt-free goal a lot quicker.
8) Add Value To Yourself
How can you add value to yourself so that you can increase your earning potential in 2021? In this New Year, look at things you can do to make yourself an asset to your employer or pick up a skill that you can use to create a side hustle.
Are there courses that you can go on? Is there a skill you can learn online? Is there training that you can request your employer sponsor you to complete? Write a list of all the things you can do to add value to yourself this year and get to work so that this time next year you’ll be earning more money than ever before.
13 Financial Goals To Set For 2021 Continued…
9) Review Pension Plan
Do you know who your pension provider is? Do you know how much money is in your pension? Do you know how your pension is currently being invested? If you answered no to any of these questions, make it a point to find this out in 2021. Make it a goal to review your pension plan in 2021 and make sure your money is being invested the way you want it to be invested. If it’s time to switch pension providers, make it a point to take action and do so this year.
Additionally, if you’re yet to do so, increase your pension contribution to employer match so that you’re not losing out on all that free money.
10) Start Giving
If giving isn’t something you currently incorporate into your finances, consider incorporating it into your list of goals for 2021. Consider giving to charities, your local church, friends and family, the more you give the more you receive.
11) Reduce Expenses
Is your budget currently maxed out? Are you currently living paycheque to paycheque? All the money you receive you spend it before the next payday arrives. In 2021 commit to doing better.
Something as little as reducing your takeaways from twice a week to once a week at £25 per order, over the course of 12 months this will save you £1,300 in a year. What could you do with an extra £1,300?
Find ways to reduce your expenses in order to free up money in your budget to put towards more important financial goals like some of the ones mentioned earlier in this blog post.
12) Get A Promotion Or A New Role
If you haven’t had a decent pay rise over the last few years then make it a goal to see if you can either change roles or get a pay rise at your current place of employment. So referring back to one of the earlier goals of adding value to yourself (goal 8), if you’ve done this during the first half of the year, in the second half of the year you’ll be able to easily achieve the pay rise or new role.
13) Invest In Yourself
This is the last, but by no means least, important money goals to consider setting in 2021. I am my biggest investment and you are your biggest investment. This year, let’s make ourselves a priority. Health is wealth, so eat well, exercise, take good care of your body, drink more water doing all these things and more is going to help your overall health in 2021 and save you money on medical expenses in the long-run.
These are just 13 of many money goals that you can set for 2021. I hope this has got you thinking about the things that you could do to level up financially in 2021. Let me know in the comments section below what you thought of this list of goals. Are there any that you will consider implementing this year?
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