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Step One
by Doris Dobkins
What are your financial goals? Quick! Everyone reading this should be able to state them clearly and precisely within the next 60 seconds. If you can't do that then you've missed the whole boat.
So do you want to be rich? How do you define rich? Do you want a secure retirement? What amount of money equals "secure"? Do you want to enjoy your money now and deal with the future when it gets here or do you want to spend some time now, planning for the future?
Before you can even think about investing, budgeting or personal finance, you must determine your personal financial goals. Why? Because a goal sets the tone for your financial direction and gives you a foundation from which to base your financial decisions.
If your goal is to have no debt (which I define as true "financial freedom") then your plan would focus on paying off your mortgage and all other debts even at the expense of saving for retirement.
If your goal is to be wealthy and have a lot of money at retirement, then you'll probably want to focus on getting rid of unsecured debt, maximizing your retirement contributions and possibly leveraging your assets to increase your net worth.
Where are your values? What are you doing with what you make? What should you be doing now to get where you want to be?
There's no reason to delay starting any longer. If you only have $10 extra a month, that's a start. Whether you invest it or use it towards paying off a bill, that's up to you. There's no rights or wrongs as long as you have a plan and are following it.
Doris Dobkins is a money saving expert, author and speaker and has helped thousands of people find ways to save money and get out of debt.
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