When you’re in the trenches, it can be very hard to think beyond the present. A few years ago, we were struggling financially and I felt like our situation was hopeless. At the time, I wasn’t sure how we were going to pay our monthly bills, so future plans like funding our retirement, our daughters’ college education, or a lavish vacation were not on my mind.
But once I created our debt freedom plan and outlined the steps we would take to wade through the hardships, I was overcome with relief. The plan allowed us to think beyond the financial struggles we were dealing with at the time and we could envision what our future might look like.
And that future didn’t look bleak, in fact, it looked very bright. And while we have a lot of work ahead of us, we keep moving forward.
As part of Prudential’s Women Inspired campaign, I was encouraged to think about my dreams detailing my long-term goals and aspirations.
I broke my goals into two categories: Financial and Personal
Our Financial Goals:
- Pay off our non-mortgage debt.
- Celebrate with a trip to Walt Disney World.
- Increase our emergency fund to 6 months of expenses.
- Contribute to our retirement funds.
- Start saving for college.
- Pay off our mortgage debt.
- Celebrate debt freedom with a big family trip to Hawaii or Paris.
- Continue to live debt free with the ability to travel more, give more, pursue our passions.
Bold? Yes! Achievable? Absolutely!
My Personal Goals:
Along with the financial goals my husband and I set together, I have my own personal goals too.
- Complete a full marathon.
- Write a book about our debt free journey.
- Volunteer more at the local food bank.
- Travel the country with my husband in an RV.
Looking forward
When I was 25, I worked for a large corporation and I never imagined that 20 years later I would be self-employed, working alongside my husband (boyfriend at the time), while raising two daughters.
And now at 45, I am looking at my future more intently than before. With just 20 short years until I hit that magical retirement age of 65, I am feeling the magnitude of what my future might be like.
So there’s no time to waste. Our life plan has begun.
What are your aspirations and inspirations? With your long-term goals in mind, do you have any financial challenges that you want to tackle?
Love this post, Kristia! I think it is so important to have a vision. I’ve written about why we need to have dreams and goals in order to achieve success and seeing the desires of our hearts come to reality.
When you are in the trenches, it does seem as though you cannot escape, but having a plan and a purpose goes a long way toward achieving that end.
Our financial goals are to pay off our mortgage, continue our education, send our boys to college, and for me to publish the books I have written and those I dream about writing.
Personally, I want to live a life that honors God first and foremost – whatever that might look like.
Thanks for the encouraging post, Kristia. Praying that you and yours are well.
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Those are some great goals, Heather. I didn’t know you wanted to publish some books, but you’re a very gifted writer so it makes perfect sense. Thanks for your encouraging comments.