Looking at My Financial Goals for 2009

At the end of December 2008, I decided to write a post about my financial goals for 2009. Because I am a person with many goals in life and I am always starting new projects, I don’t want to set goals and then forget about them. (Although it is so much easier to quit half way and start something else!) There is one trick I found in order to achieve my goals: I follow up on my progress regularly to know hom I am doing. Then I determine what needs to be done next in order to achieve my goals. As time goes by, I am often reminded of my objectives while looking towards the next steps to achieve my financial goals.

When I wrote my post back in 2008, I tried another trick: make a commitment in public. I just didn’t write it down and post it on my fridge at home; I wrote my goals down and made them available to the world through a post. While the “world” won’t read it, I still made a big commitment to all my readers (which now includes a few family members and good friends too!).

While having goals is one thing, making a public commitment is another. Following up on them and actually assessing where you are at is the most important part of the process. Technically, I should have looked at my financials goals in June, 6 months after making my commitment. Life being what it is, I just didn’t have much time back then So let’s see where I am at:

Make the top 10 financial planners in Montreal

Unfortunately, I don’t have updated numbers for the whole island yet. They usually come at the end of summer as our financial year finishes on October 31^st. However, I do have the results for the 32 financial planners doing business downtown Montreal. Out of 32, I am top 4 in all categories (Net growth for investments and credit, references to other departments and insurance as well). Back in May, I was part of the top 10 in terms of percentage of my objective. I believe I am in line to make the top 10 financial planners in Montreal on October 31^st. The funny part is that I did one simple thing to make it happen: take the time to give proper financial advice to my clients. This is the most basic but often forgotten principle of personal finance for an advisor: work in the best interest of your client.

Double income from my web company

This was another important part of my financial goals: allowing my wife to stay at home. Doubling income seems like quite an achievement, but I must say that it is easier as a small start-up. We are multiplying our effort and websites in order to make it happen and I am proud to announce that we already achieved our goal at this time. However, we are still re-investing most of our profit so it still doesn’t show in my personal finances. The time will come for that…

Finish my MBA with honours

This MBA became quite a pain in the last 6 months. I have the feeling that the University now owes me a part of my life! While I literally burnt 2 years of my life doing this MBA, I would still rather finish it with a mention! While my motivation to achieve this goal dropped faster than the stock market in October 2008, I am still awaiting 3 course marks before knowing the final result. I may end with only A’s on my final report card. I am quite confident on 2 out of 3 classes. We still have to wait for the final result on this one!!!

Get my wife to (finally) stay home

That just happened 2 months ago! While I never ended up achieving my $1,500 project, we still took the decision that she stay at home. While I can’t technically afford it yet, it creates additional motivation for me to succeed in my both my financial planner job and my online company. I love creating urge, it is the best fuel you can ever get into an engine to make it work. Critical situations boost my creativity level and I become smarter all of a sudden

So I am glad to see that I am in line to achieve all my financial goals for 2009. While I cannot start working on my 2010 goals yet, I will be able to enjoy my vacation in August without too much worry

image source: sewpixie

• 2009 Financial Goals Reviewed
• 2010 Financial Goals Coming Up!
• Financial Goals for 2009
• Becoming Frugal Through Your Goals
• How to start investing – A DIY Growth Investment Strategy Part 9 – Make a Financial Plan

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