Planning for the Future

I have been on a work conference call all morning. The purpose of the call is to do some planning of our projects for the next quarter. It reminded me of how important planning is. Especially planning for your future.

Being prepared for life is the most important thing you can do. Bad things sometimes happen. Jobs are sometimes cut. Someday you want to retire. Make sure you’re prepared for the things that may come along, because after all, life happens.

Where will you be sitting financially when you’re 65? Will Social Security even be around to take care of you? Are your loved ones taken care of if something bad should happen to you? These are just some of the questions you should be asking yourself as you prepare for the future.

Here are some things you should be looking in to to prepare for your future if you haven’t started already:

Emergency Fund- I’ve said it many times and I’ll continue saying it, having an emergency fund is essential. Having about 6 months worth of expenses in savings will really help should anything unexpected happen. You never know when you’ll lose your job or you’ll need emergency surgery or something else that can break a person if they aren’t prepared. Plan ahead and protect yourself from Murphy’s Law.

Insurance- Having good term life insurance is very important in the event that something happens to you. Where would your family be if you were suddenly dead? Would they be able to get by without your income? Would they be able to afford the house you live in? Having roughly 10 times your annual salary in term life insurance should help them be able to pay off the house and live for a few years while they deal with your death.

Retirement Planning- Everyone looks forward to retiring one day. You’ll have spent many years working hard and providing and one day you’ll want to relax. If you haven’t planned ahead for retirement, you may never be able to retire. Start saving now so that when its time to retire you’re prepared. Use the 401ks offered by your company. Use Roth IRAs. Set aside about 15% of your salary each month so that it can grow and you can use compound interest to reach your retirement goals. Also, if you haven’t paid off your house yet, I highly recommend doing that. How much could you put in savings if you didn’t have to pay your mortgage anymore?

Planning ahead is the key to your financial health and being prepared will allow you to enjoy life and reduce financial stress.