“I am not particularly confident if I can make all of my personal finance goals this year but the point for me is that you keep trying to do it despite what the world throws at you.”
Since New Year’s Day we’ve looked over the shoulder of personal finance blogger Thicken My Wallet (TMW). He’s shared his financial goals for the year as well as strategies and course corrections. If you’ve missed this great series, you can read last month’s entry here. Previous entries are here, and here.
To reflect on April and kick off May, I asked TMW one question:
“How has the shape of the economy impacted your financial goals for 2008?”. He was gracious enough to reply. Here’s his answer, in his own words.
Financial goals meet the recession of 2008, by Thicken My Wallet
Welcome to the May edition of my monthly posts which tracks my personal finance goals. I am happy to report that I did, indeed, do something for my health in April after I challenged myself publicly.
I joined a “learn how to run” clinic; it’s a 10 week program which teaches me how to run up to 2 miles at a time. I also dusted off my bike from storage and plan to explore the local bike trials close to my home. Thus, I am well on my way to better health.
Personal goals like personal fitness are readily controllable goals. You don’t have to depend on anyone or anything to achieve them- just your own effort. But what about personal finance goals which are influenced greatly by the world we live in? You can say you want to increase net worth, buy a house or pay down debt but these depend on things such as a healthy stock market, the general job market, interest rate changes- factors out of our control. What happens when personal finance goals meet larger world events like the recession of 2008 (and let’s fact it, we are in a recession but we have to wait for the statistics to come in before we can officially say it)?
The easy out is to say simply that the economy has impacted your goals greatly and you cry to the heavens, throw up your hands in frustration and simply scrap your goals. But good goal setting should put you slightly out of comfort zone. It is not a challenge if you set goals you can reach easily. When world events make your goals harder to attain, just remember that the entire point of good goal setting is to reach beyond yourself and, as unfair the world may be, you press on towards that goal.
I am not particular confident if I can make all of my personal finance goals this year but the point for me is that you keep trying to do it despite what the world throws at you.
On a more practical level, I am keeping my goals the same but finding other ways to reach them. For example, one of my goals is to increase net worth by 7%. Strategically, that may be hard to reach this year. But, tactically speaking, I can really concentrate on the factors I can control (i.e. keep my expenses low and paying down debt) and not be too upset by the factors I cannot (how the stock market does or the interest rates).
In other words, I am not moving the finish line, I am finding other ways to get there other than I intended. Goal planning is the larger picture: concentrate on the larger picture and don’t be concerned if how you got there wasn’t as you imagined it (assuming, of course, it is legal and ethical). I know a lot of people picture something happening in a certain way and, if it doesn’t work out as they imagine, they get upset. I try not to get too upset if my 7% goal wasn’t reached by my investments going up but by being frugal. It doesn’t matter how I get there, as long as I get there.
The final thing I am keeping in mind is that if I try my best and I don’t reach my goal because of a factor I can’t control, I am not going to beat myself up over it. I gave it my best and, as long as I continue to do so, I should be fine. This may sound like it is coming right out of a Boy Scout’s manual but you control what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t. Stay positive and see you next month.
Good for you, TMW! Attitude is everything and you’re certainly making strides. Keep your eye on the prize(s)! Have a great month!
Remember, if you’d like to check in with Thicken My Wallet’s daily money musings, subscribe to his blog.
