Kirstin: “How do I get that healthy balance of adult responsibility and 20 something freedom?”

TCM: Finding a healthy balance is a concern of virtually all of our clients. If what was being balanced was the same for everyone this question would be quite easy to answer. Our clients are at various stages of life and each individual or couple has a set of unique values and goals. This is why financial planning goes beyond looking at numbers, running projections and talking about financial products. Tailoring a plan to accommodate each situation is what makes our job so interesting!

Here are some guidelines for you to consider when developing goals during the initial stages of the financial planning process:

    1. Realistic but dreamy – dreaming about the future is required when establishing goals. These dreams are tweaked in #2.
    2. Measurable – you have dreamed up your goals and now you must measure them. Each goal you establish should be sized up!
    3. Rank – you may determine that trying to achieve all of your goals is not feasible. At this point it is worthwhile to prioritize each one. The higher priority goals will receive the most attention.
    4. Establish tactics – make a list of what tasks need to be completed in order to reach each goal.
    5. Time frame – an implementation plan can be crafted once steps 1 to 4 are completed. The implementation should specify dates that each tactic will be completed by.
    6. Monitor and pivot – you can complete steps 1-5 perfectly and still fall short of achieving your goals if they are not monitored periodically. It is likely that your tactics will need to be altered as personal goals and priorities tend to change over time.

Kirstin you are a young and newly minted university grad. The willingness to participate in financial planning at your age, accompanied with the goal of finding balance in all aspects of your life is what makes you mesh so well with the TCM team!

Unfortunately, there will be challenges along the way which will require us to pivot as things change in your life. For now, we will focus on finding the balance between spending money to enjoy your current stage of life and taking responsibility for the financial well being of your future self.