My Personal Financial Goals for 2009

It’s the start of a new year again, and it’s time for planning one’s finances for the rest of the year.  I spent the past few weeks working on my financial goals for 2009, so that I can increase my chances of being financially stable in 2009.

I find that it’s important to make your goals as specific as possible.  For example, “save more money” is a bit vague.   How much will you save and what are you saving it for?  Also, write down the actions you need to take for each goal. If you intend to make more money, how will you do that?  What are the steps you need to take to make it happen?

I encourage you to do the same thing.  Let’s make this year a year of better financial responsibility.  List your financial goals on your blog, and send me a link to your post (either through the contact form or the comments section of this post).  At the end of the month, I’ll compile all your links and share them to other Frugal Pinoy readers.

Note: For privacy, I won’t be including actual figures here, just percentages and placeholders.

My financial goals for 2009

Earn at least P xx,xxx per month.  I’ve raised this by 63% from my previous goal last 2008.  This is my most important goal, because without it, I won’t be as successful with my other goals.  Here’s how I plan to accomplish this goal:

• Be consistent with my work output.  At least 13 articles per month for one client,
• Explore other moneymaking opportunities.  This includes a passive income stream (more about this later), applying to travel writing gigs, launching my illustration studio, and earning more from my web content service.
• Put my money in accounts with better returns.  This means I’ll look into special deposit accounts, time deposits with higher interest rates, and maybe even other investments.

Finish saving up for my 1-year emergency fund.  Right now, I only have the money for a 6-month emergency fund.  I’d like the security of knowing that I can pay for my current lifestyle even if I don’t earn anything for a year.  This is especially important since I have dependents.  Based on my calculations,I’ll finish saving up for my emergency fund by September.

Reach a certain amount of savings for my retirement fund.  My retirement fund is doing okay, but every year I have a goal of how much I should set aside for retirement.  Note that my definition of retirement is the time when I am no longer physically or mentally able to work.  I love my work, and I want to do it for as long as I can.  Also, since I don’t have a corporate job, my definition of retirement is different from the traditional definition.

Save up at least P xxx,xxx for Pangasinan house.  I’ve already mentioned before that one of my goals is  to build a house in a farm in Pangasinan by 2011.  To do that, I need to save a certain amount of money this year.

Prepare a will and have it notarized.  Remember Heath Ledger?  When he died, he did not update his will, so there was nothing in it about his daughter and his ex-wife.  I want to make sure that my partner gets the bulk of my savings and personal effects, and the only way to do that legally is through a will.  I’ve seen many Filipino families get torn apart just because people didn’t agree about who was entitled to what.  Something as legally binding as a will prevents these unnecessary arguments.

Here’s a sample of a will that is valid in the Philippines.  Feel free to browse that site as it also has templates of other legal documents, such as deeds of sale and special power of attorney.

Donate more money to causes I support.  I already donate to an animal shelter, but I want to donate to PAWS, Haribon, and maybe an educational NGO.  I welcome suggestions here.  If you also plan on donating to causes in 2009, click here for a list of organizations you can donate to.

Establish a passive income stream.  To ensure that I have an income even if don’t have any clients, I need to establish an income stream that requires little input and maintenance.  I’m thinking of working on an ebook (for an international audience) or online mentorship (for Filipinos).  I haven’t fleshed out this idea yet, but I’ve scheduled the planning stages in my calendar.

I’ll be updating you on my goals each month, to show you whether I’m on track or not.  That’s the point of blogging about your goals – so that there’s public accountability. If you’re writing a list of goals that only you can see, it’s very easy to remove some items or throw the list away altogether.

Now, it’s your turn.  How about you?  What are your financial goals for the year ahead?