What is a financial goal?

Typically these include things like:

  • What is important to you financially?
  • What age would you like to retire?
  • What do you want to do when you retire and how much will it cost?
  • How often would you like to vacation, and what will you do on vacations?

Then you can figure out, based on what your goals are and how much money will be needed to accomplish them, how much you’ll need to save or how much money you’ll need on hand.

There are many online calculators that can help with some of these calculations, but I recommend seeking out a financial adviser to help get a complete and clean result. My experience is, get a professional to help you set goals and understand their implications. It usually doesn’t cost any money for an evaluation, and the results of the analysis will require some action anyway – and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) can help you implement the plan.