Making A Financial Plan
Whether it's for family or business, everyone needs a plan to ensure success. Financial planning is no different, but most people need help when it comes to putting together the right strategy. While Clay County Savings Bank does not provide financial planning, we have observed what would be helpful to our customer trying to plan.
1. Gathering information and Setting Goals
Determine your net worth, gathering information about your budget and constructing a cash flow breakdown of income and expenses.
2. Analyzing Spending Habits And Developing A Workable Budget
Knowing where money goes is essential to realizing where savings can be realized. Often consumers focus on investments when one of the best investments may be paying off high-interest debts.
3. Think About The Journey
Everyone has things they want to accomplish – whether it's sending children to college, buying a new home, taking a dream vacation or starting and building a business. The ultimate goal in financial planning is usually saving for retirement, but it's also important to think about what will happen over the next 30 years.
4. Setting goals is essential because it helps to determine what types of investments you want to make and how risk adverse you want to be.
For example, if you're planning for paying for college tuition in the next 10 years, you may want to focus on an investment strategy that help earns dividends with very little risk. But for a retirement goal that is 30 years away, you may want to take more risks with investments that can generate bigger returns over the long haul.
5. Begin Saving And Investing
Diversification is essential to strong financial planning, which means having access to an array of tools including traditional savings accounts, certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.
When you're making a financial plan, it's critical to have a trusting relationship with your planner and financial institution. For more than 100 years, Clay County Savings Bank has been helping local consumers start from the first savings account through buying a home and to retirement. For more information on how Clay County Savings Bank can help with your financial plan, contact us online or call (816) 781-4500.