Plan Ahead for Your Financial Goals

The most important step in reaching any goal is to develop a plan to achieve it. That’s why it’s so important to plan ahead for your financial future. The idea of building a solid financial plan can feel overwhelming. But with a little planning and better understanding of what your investment options are, you can successfully manage your money and pursue your financial goals.

To develop a sound financial plan, you need to:

Know where you are today.
Set goals and develop a plan.
Invest to pursue your goals.

Know where you are today

One of the first steps in developing a sound financial plan is figuring out where you stand today. An H&R Block Financial Advisor will work with you and help you decide how much more you’ll need to save to reach your goals.

Set goals and develop a plan

Once you’ve determined where you are, the next step in developing a financial plan is to decide what you want to do with your money and what your major financial concerns are. Each of your financial goals has an impact on all of the others, so be sure to look at the big picture.

It’s essential to plan for every area of your financial future to ensure you are on track to meet your goals. And because your needs will change and grow over time, it’s important to review your plan every year to ensure your investments remain on track with your goals. You may want to review your financial plan with your advisor even more often if a major change occurs in your circumstances.

Invest to pursue your goals

Good investment planning is an essential step toward meeting your financial goals. How you choose to invest can be as important as how much you invest.

The first step in saving to meet your financial goals is to reduce your debt. Because the sooner you start saving, the more time your money has to grow. The key benefit to long-term saving is compound growth.

There are many investment choices and retirement accounts to help you achieve both your short- and long-term investment goals. And a balanced portfolio is the best way to reduce your risk as you invest for the future. Your personal H&R Block Financial Advisor can offer you the advice and guidance you need to invest for the future, and find ways for you to begin investing at amounts lower than you might expect.

H&R Block Financial Advisors offers a wide variety of financial solutions, including education and retirement IRAs, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. We’ll work with you to evaluate the investment choices that are right for you.