Throughout the month of January, I tracked my checking and savings accounts and determined what I was spending the most money on, and what was absolutely essential for what I was buying. The McGraw textbook defines Personal Financial Planning as the “process of managing your money to achieve personal economic satisfaction” (3). A part of starting a personal financial plan is budgeting and monitoring what you spend on what for multiple months. According to Strategic Misinterpretation of Budgeting, “Those who implement budgets maximize their own discretion at the expense of political decision makers so as to gain the greatest efficiency in pending money to achieve organizational objectives” (Jones and Euske 438). I believe that by continuing …show more content…
An easy template to set these goals is to use the S.M.A.R.T goals outlined for us in our textbook. Goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and time based (9). One of my smart goals is to save at least $10.00 of every paycheck I get from my new job, so that at the end of the semester, I have $130 more dollars in my savings account. Another one of my smart goals is after graduation, to obtain a job outside of campus, so that I can save at least $50.00 a month for six months to go towards paying off my student loans after the grace period, so I would have at least $1,000 dollars towards paying off my loans. Finally, my longest-term goal is to keep track of my budget for the rest of my life, spend smart and do not get into any more debt than I have to, so that I can live a happy debt free life. These goals are specific because it outlines all that I need to do to obtain the goals, they are measurable because I give a time period onto which I am to have these goal completed, they are action oriented because I have to do the task to complete the goals I have set, they are realistic because I do have a job and plan do the actions that I have laid out, and finally, my goals are time based because I have a time frame to complete each
Budgeting is a familiar term to most American families. Dictionary.com defines budgeting as an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future. In order to avoid debt, bankruptcy, or overspending it is common to create a spreadsheet of some sort tracking your spending and income. On a grander scheme, the Unites States has to budget as well.
Personal Financial Advisors work behind the scenes with every type of person. They are the people who know how money works, and can tell you the best way to spend yours. They make investments on stocks or bonds, they plan for your retirement or children's college education. Financial advisors are aware of different opportunities and investment plans and they have the means to put your money where it can earn the largest return. A vast majority of people invest money, and more often than not there is a financial advisor by their side. This means that I could find a job as a financial advisor anywhere in the United States and in most other places around the world as well. Of course, it fits to reason that the people directing the world's money
By using the S.M.A.R.T. goal system, you are able to make your dreams a reality, one small step at a time. The first step in reaching a long-term goal is to understand the S.M.A.R.T. the goal process. Simply using the words specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound can be a bit confusing. After a bit of research, I was able to better define the method. Using a S.M.A.R.T. Goal worksheet provided by Tatt (2012).
After one month of tracking my income, I have learned a little more about my spending habits. I am already aware of most of my spending habits, and where I most often slip up. A little on the background of my spending, I rarely use cash. There are two reasons why I do this; the first reason is so that I am not tempted to spend bits of money here and there on snacks and small things. The other reason is that so I can more effectively track my spending with less effort. I have two checking accounts to keep this balanced since on the statements it does not say what the money is specifically spent on. I use one card on essentials and school needs, and the other account is more of a lifestyle account. Although I have done this financial tracking in the past, I was able to reaffirm that I still have some areas of weakness in my spending.
Making a personal budget can be a very simple or a very arduous task, depending on how one goes about it. One must find stable monthly expenses, such as rent, and manage the rest of their income around that amount. Depending on the steps an individual takes, this can be a very simple process. For this project, I was assigned to make three personal budgets for three different situations. This paper will outline the first.
Figuring out where you will be financially years from now is hard to imagine. There are always what you plan, and then there’s things that just happen that you would usually rather not have of. You can always make goals and things and hope that things go alright and end up close to what you expected.
What is Personal Financial Planning? Personal financial planning is guided by a licensed financial professional on the financial decisions faced by individuals. It includes portfolio allocations, future planning decisions, goal setting, and exploration of different investment vehicles. Is Personal Financial Planning Necessary?
Two financial career options that an individual with a finance education can pursue is financial manager and a personal financial advisor. Financial managers are responsible for the overall financial health of an organization. The roles performed by these professionals consist of preparing financial statements, managing employees within the department, reviewing financial reports and documents, analyzing market trends and assisting senior management with important business decisions are common. Chief financial officer, controller, or treasurer are upper-level financial management positions. They have a large influence on the direction of a business or organization.
I became an enthusiast of finance ever since I was at high school. At the political economy class, my teacher asked us: if you have a million RMB, how would you use it? She then introduced us the concept of investment, and I was intrigued specifically by the stock. For the latter two years of my high school, I have been reading books and articles regarding the stock market in the U.S. and in China. As one of the outstanding students ranked top 1% in College Entrance Exam in Hainan Province, China, I was accepted by the City University of Hong Kong with a full scholarship. With the strong interest in finance, I chose quantitative finance and risk management as my major.
Budget is combining your income and expenses to decide how much money you are going to spend on an item. Budget is an important step to determine your financial health and financial stability. It’s an important financial tool because it can help plan for expenses, cut cost were unneeded, save for future goals, plan for emergencies that occur inexpediently, and list what you are spending and saving.
From research, we know that the reason people do not stick to their budget is that they do not have specific financial goals. You probably already have an idea about what you want to do, if you are able to improve your financial situation. If you are single, it will be easy to set goals. If you have a partner, it might require some negotiations and it will be even more important to write down the goals you agree upon.
Managing personal finances is an important skill to acquire. However, no where in school is this subject taught. As a result of a lack of preparation, our society is subject to a high percentage of people who lack financial success. Those who are successful at managing their personal finances will find that they are successful in many other areas as well. To learn how to manage personal finances there are books and web sites that provide a step by step guide to successfully managing personal finances. Those who lack financial success often possess many of the same traits.
In chapter one, I determined my SMART goals. Smart goals seem to be the starting point for any financial situation. Within building SMART goals, you determine a specific goal, the reality of making it happen, and when. I have a much better understanding now of what my actual goals are. My smart goal for the 6th quarter co-op is to save roughly 20% of my income to put towards next quarter beings I waste so much money on little things.
Personal Finance is a class I’ve wanted to take for a while now. My major is Finance not because I want a career in finance but more to learn about finance for my own personal situation. This class taught me so much! During this class I was able to evaluate my financial situation and set financial goals for myself. The four topics that helped me the most were emergency savings, buying a car, purchasing a home, retirement, and estate planning. After completing this class I have a better understanding of these topics and how to achieve my financial goals.
Once you set your goal, you need to start getting more specific. It moves from a dream into reality. Make a plan, it must move from your mind to a piece of paper. Write down the things that you need to do. What do you want to achieve? What will be your life when you achieve your goal? Things that you need to be done. Things that you want to learn more about your goal. Qualities that you admire in others. Improves the qualities you have. Habits that you want to stop and habits that you want to improve.