Money Goals: Here’s Mine, What’re Yours?
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Another ALT (assistant language teacher) and I were recently talking about post-college life. He’s been out of college for a little over a year, while I have just been out for five months.
I told him how I was really enjoying the freedom and doing what I wanted for the first time in my life. For 22 years I felt like I was doing what was expected of me, and was never doing what I truly wanted. That finally changed when I got on the plane to Japan in July.
I told my friend I was enjoying not having to go to the library to study for a test, or having to keep myself awake through morning classes, but I mostly enjoyed coming home at four or five in the afternoon and being completely done with work and obligations.
Like I said earlier, my friend has been out of college for a little over a year, and he saw things a little differently. After voicing my opinion, he said something that really made me stop and think:
“It would be nice to have something to work towards.”
The job I have is not a career. It doesn’t provide opportunities to move up and it’s mostly a chance to experience working internationally. I’m new here. His advice was that of someone who has experienced teaching in Japan for over a year, and I could really see where he was coming from.
His quote really stuck with me and I immediately related it to having goals with money.
$ Goals = $ Success
You must have financial goals if you want to be successful with your money. Unless you make a very large amount of money that allows you to be oblivious to your day-to-day spending, you must be conscious of the direction you want your money to go.
Even if you want to be good with your money, you will continue to struggle and find yourself falling behind, if you don’t take the time to think about where you want your money to be.
My friend’s quote showed me that someone obliviously floating through their financial life is just as hurtful as someone who consciously sets out to destroy their finances. They’ll both end up somewhere they don’t want to be because they never had a destination in mind in the first place.
Can financial progress occur without goals? Perhaps.
Is financial progress going to occur at a MUCH higher rate if goals are set? Definitely.
My Money Goals
September 2008 is the month my money spreadsheet was created. This was right after an August spent diving into personal finance books and realizing I needed some direction with my money. I now have twelve months of money data so I can track my progress to see where I can improve, and where I can ease up.
I’ve never been a goal person, but this September I sat down and made myself write out five money goals for September 2009 to September 2010. I’d like to keep myself accountable for these goals, so I will post them here and check back in two months. Here is what came out of that September brainstorming session:
Goal #1:
Save 40% of my monthly income (28% saved so far)
So far I’ve done alright considering the circumstances of moving to another country. In the past three months I’ve bought a car, spent a long weekend in Tokyo, traveled to Nagano, and bought a couch which have all put a little dent in the savings. I’m confident once I settle in (the next month, hopefully) that I can accomplish this goal every month.
This percentage may seem a little high for some. My monthly expenses should be low which will continue to allow me to take weekend trips and have a good time, despite saving a very high percentage every month. I think it’s important to have a good time while I’m here, but I’m not treating my time in Japan as “blow my money on everything because I’ll never be back”. I have money goals and this is my most important one.
Goal #2:
Pay off 20% of my tuition loan from my mom. (3% paid with 11 months to go)
Being in Japan, I really miss utilizing my online savings account. This is one area where I can use that account as I have a certain amount set to be transferred every month. This is my one outstanding debt, and I’m determined to get it done ASAP.
Goal #3:
Loan $100 to entrepreneurs on Kiva every 3 months (Loan 1 complete, 3 to go)
I set up a Google Calendar reminder so that this goal doesn’t slip my mind. I’ve never been charitable and I recently realized there’s no good time to start giving back. Kiva is a superb group and I love the work that they do. I really enjoy reading the entrepreneur’s stories and getting their updates delivered to my inbox.
Goal #4:
Increase my net worth by 25% by March 2010 (increased around 10% with 5 months to go)
I haven’t tallied up my finances for October yet, so this number is a bit of an estimate. Net worth depends on some factors out of my control, like the stock market and interest rates, so I’m really interested to see the progression of this number. Goal #5 will also affect how my net worth moves in the next half a year.
Goal #5:
Open a taxable investing account (researched, but haven’t pulled the trigger)
I opened a Roth IRA last year, and I’m really glad I did because I currently can’t invest in a tax-deferred account since I don’t pay taxes in America. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Japan, so I need to search for other investing options.
I want to invest the money I won’t need for more than five years, so I’m currently researching different funds and deciding how I want to transfer the money back to America. It’s been a bit of a headache, so if anyone has been in this situation and has any suggestions, it would be much appreciated!
I’ll check back at the end of December to let you know how these goals are progressing.
Your Turn – Goal Time
Take some time over the next couple of days and think about your current money situation.
Are you saving every month? Do you have debts that need to be addressed? Do you know how much you’re spending every month? Do your savings accounts have high interest like that of online banks? How much money would you like to have? Why?
After you’ve thought about that, start to wrap your head around a time-frame.
Where do you want your money to be in two weeks? A month? Six months? A year? Ten years? And what will it take every month for your money to get to these goals?
For me, tracking my money every month allowed me to accelerate my savings and my money goals. Maybe this is something you could do to easily keep track of where your money is every month. It takes me less than ten minutes to go through my accounts on the first of the month and insert them in a spreadsheet. It was the best money decision I ever made and I really enjoy having all of the data available to me.
Once you’ve found your desired numbers, try writing down 2-5 goals on a notepad document and save it on your computer. Don’t make too many goals, but just keep them simple so that you don’t get buried in obligations and numbers.
Make sure to put a reminder on your calendar to periodically check your goals every month or two. This keeps you on track and improves your chances of accomplishing the goals because you’re conscious of them.
Eventually, months and years will pass and you’ll be changing your goals and altering them to your life and money situation. At this time, your money should be progressing nicely and you’ll be thrilled that you decided to set money goal for yourself.
Money goals are an essential foundation piece to the personal finance log cabin. Do yourself a favor, and start planning your goals as soon as possible.
Hey, FF readers! What’s your most important money goal and how is it coming along?
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Photo by D-32
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Hi, I'm Austin Morgan. I live in Japan, teach English, and write about personal finance. I hope you enjoy FF and feel free to 
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