Whether you’re planning your retirement, saving for college or planning a family vacation, it’s important to set personal and financial goals as soon as possible, so you can create a plan to reach them.
Download this worksheet, and follow the instructions on this page to define, prioritize and estimate the costs of reaching your goals.
Goal Definition Worksheet >>>
Column 1: Write Down Your Goals As you write down your goals, it’s important to be specific. Rather than write: “I want to retire,” write: “I want to save $1 million for retirement by age 55." Consider these goal categories:
Stabilize your current financial situation:
- Emergency cash reserves
- Debt management
- Quality of life
Protect yourself and your loved ones from risks:
- Life, health, disability, long-term care, auto, home and additional insurance products
Invest for long-term goals:
- Retirement
- College Education
- Career
- Car
- Home
- Travel
- Health
- Community
- Hobbies
Create an estate plan
Column 2: Set Target Dates for Your Goals Choose a target date for when you want to reach each of your goals, and add it to your Goal Definition Worksheet. The more specifically you define your goals, the more likely you will stick to your plan to reach them.
Column 3: Estimate the Cost of Reaching Your Goals
Research each goal to estimate the cost of reaching it. For long-term goals, remember to take into account the effects of inflation. These online calculators can help:
Column 4: Prioritize Your Goals
Next, decide which of your goals are the most important to you, and rate them on the Goal Definition Worksheet. For example:
- Stabilize your current financial situation
- Protect yourself and your loved ones from risk with insurance products
- Invest for long-term goals like retirement, college and more
- Create an estate plan