Goals Based Planning

I recently completed the two modules of Canadian Securities Institute training (Personal Financial Services Advice and Financial Planning 1) that qualifies me to apply for a Senior Account Manager position - when one becomes available in my region.  Since I am LONG finished with being mobile for work, this tightens the circle of where I might be willing to work to three branches of the bank I work for, or, if the offer was REALLY good, any of the other credit unions and / or banks within about a 20 KM radius.

While I was in the final stages of the Financial Planning (1) course, our branch's Financial Planner completed some more of her training and offered to do some goals-based planning with me.  In order to do this, I was asked to consider some financial goals I would like to obtain, and I was given a list of things to gather together so that she could review my current state and then help me put together a plan to reach my goals.

The cool thing is that I recently sat down with one of my other colleagues and he helped to put together something called a Financial Needs Assessment for me. The Financial Needs Assessment was to help me figure out if retirement at 55 was going to be responsible.  The good news is that I CAN retire at 55 on a very reduced pension, as long as my mortgage is paid off.  The bad news is that, based on my current salary and savings, if I choose to do that things will be VERY tight - even considering no mortgage payments. Something that my colleague pointed out to me (that I did not consider) was that though I could manage it, there would be no savings to do things like buy a new car or cover emergencies, should they arise. He fleshed out assessments for ages 55, 60 and 65 and at the end of the day, his recommendation was that 60 is a more responsible target if nothing changes in my financial picture.

Thankfully, my financial picture will continue to get better. The closer I get to my desired retirement date, the closer I will be to having my mortgage paid off.  Once my mortgage is paid off, everything I have been laying into my mortgage can then go into savings - the savings that will be needed to fund the emergency account and the new car fund.

Anyhow, back to the offer of Goals Based Planning made by my Financial Planner. I've managed to collect almost everything together that she needs - I'm still waiting on one document (which is probably in my mailbox right now, to be honest) but what I haven't actually done is put together my list of goals.  Retirement is obviously one of them, a new car and an emergency fund also need to be on the list.  The homework now will actually be figuring out what I will need for a new car and what would constitute (for me) a comfortable emergency fund.  

The primary consideration should always be having that emergency account set up and funded. The standard recommendation is that a person should always have 3 to 6 months' worth of income laid aside in case anything should happen to interrupt the income stream (loss of employment or an injury making it impossible to work, for example) Generally speaking, what people need to determine is what that number should look like.  I guess to be safe I should look at having 6 months' worth of (after tax) income set aside to cover expenses and so forth.  So I guess that creates goal number 1 for me: 6 months' worth of after tax income in an emergency fund account. That means somewhere between 10 and 15 thousand dollars.

The second goal will be to buy a new car.  My car is currently 8 years old - and though it runs like a top and I am maintaining it as required, I can probably count on having to replace it in the next 5 to 7 years.  I'll hold out as long as I possibly can, of course, but realistically speaking, I am going to have to replace it some day and if I can plan to have enough money set aside in 5-7 years to pay for a new car, then I'll be ahead of the game when it needs to be done. I did a little research on line and the average price of a NEW car (off the lot) this year was a little over 25 thousand.

Considering that I am currently only able to put aside just enough money to cover my annual insurance and property tax monies, well, coming up with 35-50 thousand dollars is a very scary thing.

Or is it?

If I look at the full 40 thousand, and I look at a 7 year time-frame I'm looking at about $275 a pay. That amount doesn't take into account any income or growth.  If I were to look at a conservative to a very conservative approach,  and considered a 6% growth per year that would actually make my bi-weekly contributions look a little more like $160 per pay.

I have found that breaking things into much smaller pieces makes them a lot less daunting.

Now, for the good stuff... with the recent completion of those courses, and the fact that I now can qualify for a promotion - when one comes in I can count on an incremental raise of between 3 and 7 thousand dollars a year - yes, before taxes, but after taxes, that could mean anywhere between ninety and two hundred dollars more per pay cheque - and BINGO - there is my savings requirements met!

OK, I should probably get off the computer and get things ready for my week ahead!

With love across the waters...

Getting Ready for 2014

Well, another new year is upon us - it will be here in a matter of just days now!  In anticipation of 2014 and all it will bring, I'm spending a little time looking back at 2013 to see what I will try and do, and to do differently, in the new year ahead.

As always, I will strive to be more patient and more giving.  I think the thing I regret most in 2013 was treating people I love with less patience than I should have. Once something is done it is too late to take it back.  Patience and tolerance are things I think I will always be working on within myself.  I think this year I will also try to be more patient with and tolerant of myself.  Other people give me the benefit of their patience and tolerance - so why should I treat myself with anything less? 

I wonder: What kind of place would this world be, if we learned how to treat ourselves well, and then strove to treat others with that same amount of love and respect?

I am working to change things - how I do things, how I see things... about myself and about other people.  I will try to love myself more - and to love myself for who I am and not for who I think I should be.  I will continue to set goals for myself - physical, emotional, financial and spiritual. I would like to take a course or perhaps attend some sort of seminar... I'm just not sure what at this point.  Practically speaking, I should look at taking something that will allow me to work on my home - maybe some sort of course on wiring or construction... I'm just not certain what at this time.  The beauty of today is that I have a whole year to plan for. A whole year of days to look forward to.

I cried less, and laughed more in 2013.  That is a good thing.  I want to laugh even more in 2014. I want to feel a small gem of joy every day.  I want to look forward not only to the big days, but to the small ones as well.  

It is time.  Time to pull out the red pen and the good paper.  Time to write out my intentions for 2014.

With love across the waters...

Real Success

Real success and fulfillment comes from helping someone else achieve their goals.

          ~John Stanton: Founder of the Running Room.

 

It was in one of my Running Room courses that I first learned about SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time framed) goals. This morning on FaceBook I read the quote above and once again have something to mentally chew on.

 

I can name a multitude of people who have made it possible for me to make more than a few of my goals into realities.  Without my family and my friends I would be in a completely different life.  My family and friends have given me the strength, support, push, and yes, when I needed it, the real kick in the pants that I needed to take the things that were just thoughts and wishes ,and make those things into my current (and future) realities.

 

When I was in Ontario and I first started running I actually didn’t tell anyone back home what I was up to – I didn’t want to tell people what my dream was - just in case I failed. I had a big fear of failure back then, and a big fear of disappointing other people.

 

Don’t get me wrong – I still fear failure and am still avoiding disappointing others like the plague – I’ve just realized over the years that the biggest thing I can do to the people around me to make them disappointed in me is to not be myself and to not trust them to support me in my endeavours. Even when I “fail.”

 

So what am I up to now? Well, I’m trying to live more fit – get more exercise and gradually improve my endurance and over-all quality of life.  This isn’t a small goal for me – this is a big one because it involves learning to feed myself properly, and it also involves follow-through.  It also involves getting out there and exercising and trying to increase and improve things by just a little bit, but every single day.

Healthy-fit isn’t all I am trying to improve upon.  I am also trying to live more financially fit – make more intelligent shopping choices.  Ensure that there is no waste when it comes to groceries. Grow food for my own consumption.

 

This year, 2013, promises to be one filled with challenges – but the challenges I am looking forward to aren’t overly scary ones – they are goals I am excited to face – and ones that I will be thrilled to overcome!

I am also looking forward to maybe being able to help someone else achieve their own goals. Remember: what goes around comes back around threefold – good or bad.

 

Here’s to a GREAT 2013!

 

With love across the waters,

Actually Yes, I Can!

People are notoriously hard on themselves. We constantly tell ourselves that we cannot do things.  We believe we are not capable of doing something because we aren’t skilled enough, smart enough, rich enough, strong enough, capable enough – well, you know, this list of “why not” goes on and on and on.

 

We are so good at stopping ourselves from doing things for fear of failure that we forget that, without trying to do something new, something harder than we have tried before, something that could lay us open to ridicule and contempt, we miss out on the opportunities that could MAKE us stronger, smarter, more capable, more skilled, richer, happier and more fulfilled.

 

OH – and we make excuses (lots of them) for why we don’t have the time to try.

 

So how do we change things? I don’t have the answers for this one for anyone other than myself, but I’ll tell you my internal scripts that help me not only take those first steps, but also the ones that help me move through the fear of failure.

 

The first one (and for me the most dangerous) is this: “How hard can it possibly be?”

 

How hard can it possibly be got me into running - which I ended up loving in spite of myself - and miss terribly. It got me into riding a bicycle again after nearly twenty years.  Again – something I love. It got me into trying to do things in my home – things like pulling off drywall, pulling out carpeting and has started me learning how to refinish old things.

 

Yeah – this is the one that seems to get me into the most trouble.  But honestly, once I’m in it, it is also the one that keeps me going and helps me get to my second script – which is “I can do *anything* for 5 minutes.”

 

It’s true. I can to anything for 5 minutes – and I started using this script when I was learning to love running. I was miserable and cold and in pain and couldn’t see how I could ever possibly love running – EVER.  Runner’s high was a delusion.  Running outside in Toronto at -30*C was insane.  That was it – runners has to be crazy – I’d see them out in the snow and rain and wind and they seemed to be enjoying themselves – that IS crazy, isn’t it?  What got me through was me telling myself, with every single step, that I am totally capable of doing absolutely ANYTHING for 5 minutes – its only F I V E little minutes!

 

And it worked.

 

The thing I am struggling with right now is RE-STARTING good habits. I have back-slid with diet and exercise – I’m feeling sluggish and although my mental state of being is great right now, my physical one is not where I want it to be.  I need to set myself some SMART goals, write out those intentions in red pen, focus on positive outcomes and ask myself: “How hard can it possibly be? I can, after all, do anything for five minutes!”

 

With love across the waters,

New Year’s Resolutions? Nope, Not So Much…

I try not to make resolutions at New Years - there seemed (for me, anyhow) to be a big push to accomplish something, which then became a little push and then the resolution was placed, neatly, back on the personal shelf... For many years now, I have been trying to set SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Oriented) goals for myself... and I usually try to set them to paper around my own "personal new year" - my birthday – which is in a little over a month’s time. 

It ends up looking more like a “To Do” list, but that’s OK - I work better with lists (that I write out) anyhow. This year the list starts with things that will continue to make my home a place of safety, comfort and usefulness. The installation of a new front door, the installation of a wood stove, making the back and front yards into productive garden space (where the deer and bears will allow) growing (and then freezing, drying and canning) my own foods. I need to learn how to actually can foods, but that will be part of the process.

I have a new notebook/diary set aside for this.  I have a red pen ready to start writing.  I have a day off in front of me and I have coffee ready to drink.  What a great way to look at my year ahead – setting my goals. Writing them down. Reviewing what is left from last year - modifying those ones as needed and adding them to this year’s list.  Dates for completion are subject to change – it all depends on the supporting factors like time and money. And weather, and season, and availability of teachers.

As I have mentioned a number of times, I love lists, and one of the things I am planning to do today (a day off) is to start drafting up my 2012 "to do" list. That’s the great thing about having a whole year to work through the tasks (or change them or remove them and add new ones, as the work progresses) there’s a whole year ahead.  

A whole year – one of potential and possibility – stretched out ahead of us.

I know a lot of people had a rough year in 2011.  Parts of it were unpleasant for me too, I’m sure. The thing is, though, that in looking backwards at this year that just finished, the spots that are standing out for me are all good things. In May I welcomed a new Sister to my family.  In July my Nephew joined us. September saw me starting a new full time job, learning new skills for work and taking possession of a new home.  October saw me hit the 20-year mark at my place of employment and December saw my Nephew’s first Christmas – spent with two of his living Great-Grandparents.

So as I wrap up my own personal thoughts on the year just finished I am reminded, once again, of how much I have in my life to be thankful for, and just how blessed I truly am.

I look ahead to 2012 with happy anticipation.

With love across the waters,

Fulfillment

The dictionary defines fulfillment (the noun) as “the state or quality of being fulfilled; completion; realization” I then looked up fulfill (the verb) – that seemed more likely to give me the definition I was looking for – yes, it is better and more specific to what I’m talking about.

To fulfill:

1. 1. to bring about the completion or achievement of (a desire, promise, etc)
2. 2. to carry out or execute (a request, etc)
3. 3. to conform with or satisfy (regulations, demands, etc)
4. 4. to finish or reach the end of
5. 5. fulfill oneself: to achieve one's potential or desires

I understand how to achieve some desires – the physical state ones, at least. Namely, set SMART goals, and then work toward completing them. What I’m not totally clear on is how to achieve emotional fulfillment on the desires that aren’t physical as much as emotional and spiritual.

My questions are these – how do we know when we are fulfilled? Is there a switch that flips, one that changes the emotional landscape inside us? Is it possible to be fulfilled in some aspects of your life and not fulfilled in others? Once fulfilled, can that switch flip the other way and we become unfulfilled again? Is it possible to be satisfied with the landscape of your life but not fulfilled by it?

It may just be me, getting side-tracked by semantics here, but I’m also not clear on how we know that we have achieved our potential. How do we know what our potential actually is? Is potential a finite thing, is there some book in the cosmos that lists out each individual and the finite amount of potential that person actually has, or is a person’s potential infinite? I believe that potential is an infinite thing – that the human heart, mind and soul have infinite possibilities and potential, and that the heart, mind and soul of a human being can achieve anything, given enough time, strength, energy, patience and love.

I can see I’m going to be chewing on this for a while. I’m no closer to resolution in my thoughts than I was before I started. Fulfillment is still a mystery to be pondered.

With love across the waters,

SMART Goals

I first encountered the concept of “SMART” goals at the High Park Running Room when I started my very first “Learn to Run” clinic. Essentially SMART goals are:

• Specific - the goal should be as specific as possible - if manifesting a thing, get creative!
• Measurable - have numbers attached!!
• Achievable - whatever the goal may be, it needs to be something doable. a half marathon is doable in 3 months, with training... it is not doable in one week without training at all...
• Realistic - as for this one, I ask myself "is the goal realistic to my life, to what I am able to do for myself and for others and am I being honest with myself in the time frames?"
• Time Oriented - ALWAYS have a goal date - this allows for time lining backward. Project management 101 comes into play here - setting those time lines and milestones WORKS!

I also learned many years ago that, when setting goals, it helps to state them as though I have already completed the task. That part is all about setting the brain waves to that positive outcome and attracting the vibration of that thing to me.

Anyhow, I haven’t set any specific goals in quite some months now and I am feeling that it’s time to start setting some. What do I want to manifest in my world? A full time job, completion of a walking half-marathon, and a few other things. So here goes.

My Top Three Goals for the rest of 2010.

1. Before the 30th of September, 2010 I happily accepted a permanent full-time position, earning no less that $43 500.00 per year as my base salary, as the Branch Operating Officer with one of the RBC branches in the North Island Region.
2. I successfully completed my walking half marathon training program with the Running Room (online clinic) and on Sunday, September 5th, 2010 I participated in the Nanaimo Harbour City Half Marathon and finished upright and smiling in less than 3 hours 30 minutes.
3. Before the 31st of December 2010 I was able to purchase a beautiful home that was well within my budget. My new home is close to work, has more than enough space for me, a fabulous back yard that is fully fenced and, the first time I walked through the door, I knew I was finally *home.*

Some other goals I have for the next 6 months include taking Jasmine through a dog tricks class, spending time at the cabin whenever possible this summer, starting a new course in September (toward my A. BA degree) and yes, losing some weight and *finally* meeting Mr. Right.

Maybe the weight loss and Mr. Right aren’t actually goals as much as dreams…? I’ll explore the dreams in another blog. For now, to quote my friend Nan:

With love, from here to there.

Erin