Change Happens—Make Sure your Finances Keep Up
What we want in life changes, and we need our finances to be able to flex, too. Simple additions like annual reviews and adjustments can make all the difference.
Priorities can change for a lot of different reasons—like getting older, finding new opportunities, or even because what you want simply evolves. When priorities shift or plans change, take the time to better understand what you’ll need to adjust financially to meet them.
A good guideline is to review your financial goals once a year—or any time you have a major life change. Because although your core values and interests may not change a lot, sometimes it’s necessary to redefine how you budget for them.
You might, for example, really love to travel. And when you’re a young family, that might mean you always include a long vacation in your annual budget. Later, buying a home may become a higher priority. What do you do now?
A good next step is to review your spending plan and personal finance statement to make sure you have room in the budget for your new goal. Then consider how you can adjust your spending habits to meet it. Maybe your long vacation abroad becomes a long weekend closer to home, or your new car purchase gets pushed back a few years.
You can always go after more than one goal at a time, but you can’t ever have all your goals be the most important. Prioritizing, reviewing and adjusting are key to making sure that as you grow and change, your money goes in the same direction you want your life to go.
For help planning, check out our savings calculator.