Having No Set Financial Goals Can Be a Good Thing…Sometimes!

So, let’s change gears, shall we? What if you really don’t have a lot of financial goals right now? It’s a question that we’ve been getting lately, primarily from people that are just starting out. They don’t have any dreams of getting a home, and they certainly don’t want to get a car right now. What should their path really be?

Here’s our answer: nothing. Well, not much anyway. It’s sort of like weight loss — not everyone is going to need to lose 100+ lbs, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to have any guilt because you don’t have any big down payments to save for or that you don’t have a job with a 401(k) yet. There’s going to be a lot of times for those things to happen. There are going to be times where
you’re going to want more than what you have right now, but isn’t that everyone?

Generally speaking, you can just make sure that everything is balanced right now in your life. You will want to make sure that you think about the type of life you want to live in the present time. That means right here, right now; you have the right to design your life around your own wants. If you are happy right now getting your rent paid and having a few nights out with your friends, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, you do want to make sure that you have enough organization to make the rest of your life smoother. For example, if you’re working you need to make sure that you’re keeping enough documentation to make filing your taxes a breeze. Saving your paystubs and other related information is definitely a good thing. In addition, you will also want to make sure that you have an overall budget. Now, this doesn’t mean that a budget has to dominate your whole life. It just means that you need to have an idea of what’s coming into your home, what’s coming out of your home, and whether or not you have enough money for your lifestyle. If you’re finding that you’re constantly late on bills or running out of money, that’s when you need to take action.

Is saving important? Absolutely — but you don’t want to flip out and think that it’s impossible to really get the things in life that you really want in the present just because you’re saving for the future. It’s very easy to go overboard, so the real key in balance here.

Overall, what we’re saying is simple: having no set financial goals is nice sometimes — it lets you stay in the moment and enjoy a very short window of your life. You have a lot of time to get serious about life. That’s not to say that you can’t get started early, but don’t stress out over it, either!