Have You Met Your Financial Goals for 2018?
Lifehacker readers know that goal setting and New Year’s decisions don’t always work (in particular, decisions have a high potential for failure ). But if you have something that you want to achieve, it is also undeniable that naming it, making a plan, and taking concrete and consistent steps is the best way to achieve it. And the new year is the best time to start doing this if you are condescending to yourself and understand that everyone faces setbacks at some point. Especially with money.
So, around this time last year, we asked if you have any financial goals for 2018 . You said that paying off student loans , maintaining a reserve account, and maximizing retirement accounts were high on your list. Now we would like to know: have you fulfilled yours? If not completely, have you made progress?
My direct financial goals were to accumulate my savings and figure out how to live on my own. I focused on the latter and it definitely prevented me from doing the latter. I also paid for the big trip, one of my shared goals in life for the year, which meant my bank account took another big hit. In fact, this year I did the opposite.
But it suits me. Traveling outside the US has been on my “list” for five years, and every year I have told myself that I need to save a little more to really be able to travel and enjoy it. This year, a casual comment from a friend turned into a trip we have been waiting for months. It turns out that I could still swing it.
I also noted another item that had been on my list for years that I just never got to: the opening and funding of the Roth IRA . It’s crazy that it took me so long, especially considering how often I write about it, but that’s life. In terms of scoring goals on my list, this has been a good year.
So what about you? How did 2018 feel about you? And if you start planning ahead, tell us: what are your financial goals or objectives for 2019?