It is vital in creating your financial future to have a vision for where you want to go. If you do not have a plan for your money, some of the best businesses in the world have a plan for it instead through marketing and purchasing in the consumer society.

We will get to vision in a future post, but let’s first deal with three of the building blocks and immediate goals to focus on.

1) Get Your Cashflow Right- know where your dollars are going. If you do not have a purpose for your dollars as they come in, those dollars will find a new home. Understand how you spend your money, find out how much you waste each month, and just set half of that number aside to take care of yourself. First, build up an emergency fund of 3-6 months of you monthly expenses, then put away for your future self.

2) Protect Your Family- Put simply, if you have a family depending on you, it would be wise to have some life insurance. Depending on your age and health situation, a large amount of life insurance could be purchased for cheaper than you might think.

3) Pay Yourself- You work very hard for your money. Do not give it away to everyone else without paying yourself first. If you do not understand your cashflow, (how your money moves through your life), then you may be paying the bartender, the barista, the credit card company, the utility companies, and the landlord all of your money and not paying yourself at all.

Paying yourself means making sure a percentage of what you make is going towards savings and investment vehicles that are geared towards future goals. These goals may be college planning for the kids, saving up for a down payment on a house, or future retirement goals.

Make sure you have a goal for each of these areas and take action towards them today.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.