Need For Having Goals

"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination."

Fitzhugh Dodson

A goal is a purpose or intended outcome that a person wants to achieve. It is a specific, quantifiable, and time-bound objective that an individual or organization sets for an initiative.

Goals can be both short-term and long-term. It can be saving money for education, buying a car, buying a house or retirement might be a financial goal.

Goals are crucial because they provide motivation, direction, focus, effort, resources, and a way to monitor progress. Setting definite, measurable goals will help people and organizations accomplish more and succeed.

The majority of people fail to be financially independent because they are not clear about their goals. Without a short-term or a long-term vision, one cannot plan his/her investment and saving because they simply do not know where to start and how much to save. Having no investment target is as dangerous as not investing. Most of the time people invest in the wrong products, stocks, mutual fund policies, or insurance policies because they invest only for the sake of investing and are clueless about what they expect.

Not being clear about your financial goals might seem trivial right now but might affect your financial planning in the future. When you are clear about what you want in the next one, 2 or 15 years, it becomes easier to plan.

Because it is specific, measurable, and time-bound, it provides direction and motivation, aids in concentrating resources and efforts, and provides a way to track progress.