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When it comes to planning for the future, taking the first step can be the most daunting task. While getting started can seem intimidating, there are things you can do before you ever meet with an advisor or planner to help set yourself up for success.

Here are some things to consider before you begin your financial planning journey.

Things to Ask Yourself Before You Start Financial Planning

What Are Your Specific Financial Planning Goals?

The whole point of financial planning is setting yourself up to achieve what you want to achieve. Before you create a plan, you need to know what you’re planning for.

Think about some of the things you want to do over the span of your life and consider both short-term and long-term goals. These could be things like:

• Buying a house (or vacation home)

• Paying off debts

• Sending your kids to college

• Taking care of your parents

• Retiring at a certain age

• Aging in place

Which Financial Planning Goals Are Most Important and Least Important?

In addition to pinpointing your specific goals, you’ll also want to know which of those goals are the most important to you. Which ones are your must-haves versus your nice-to-haves?

Ranking your goals in order of importance will do two things. First, you and your financial planner will be able to talk about what you’ll need to do to get your must-haves versus what you’ll need to do to add your nice-to-haves. Second, this will help you ensure your high-priority goals don’t fall by the wayside if you have to make changes in the future.

How Do You Want to Live Your Life?

Everybody has a unique set of income and expenses. Certain expenses come from necessities like paying the mortgage. Still, other expenses are related to how we want to live our lives, like travel. Consider your current lifestyle; what are the things you must keep to be happy?

There may be certain areas you’re willing to compromise and ones where you’re not. Knowing this ahead of time can help you walk into a meeting with a financial advisor and create a realistic financial plan.

What Is Your Timeline for Each of Your Financial Planning Goals?

Your timeline or due date for each of your financial planning goals is one of (if not the most) crucial elements of your financial plan. The earlier you can pinpoint a timeline, the more options you’ll have when creating your financial plan and being able to work towards your goals.

Getting Started

With careful consideration ahead of time, you’ll be able to walk into your first meeting with a financial planner with a clear vision of what you want to achieve together. Keep in mind that financial planning is not a sprint but rather a marathon where slow and consistent execution will help you achieve your goals.

Have questions about your unique goals and planning for your financial future? Contact us to meet with one of our financial planning experts.