Professional Financial Advice: The Top 10 Money Goals Everyone Should Have (I)

It is not enough to simply earn a very good salary or make good income from your business without having a plan for the future. The saying that money develops wings and flies away is true, so it is only wise to have a solid plan that nips the budding wings of your wealth before it can have a chance to simply disappear and leave you high and dry. This advice is from Jeff Rose, a certified financial adviser (I meant it when I said professional advice, you know) and founder of Alliance Wealth Management, LLC.

1. Get out of debt – completely.

The great thing about this goal is that anyone can do it, regardless of income or wealth level. And if you want to get the most out of your finances, it's virtually a requirement that you get out of debt.

For the moment, let's ignore the good-debt-versus-bad-debt debate. At some point in your life, all debt is bad debt and needs to be paid off. That includes the mortgage on your home. Although the purpose of that debt may be noble at the beginning, it's no less a drag on your income than any other debt as time goes on.

There are more reasons to get out of debt than I can list here, but here are just a few of them: 

Getting out of debt means that you'll have full control over your income – and that's an incredible feeling. 

It will leave you with more money for savings and investing – and even more for spending. 

It will remove the asterisk from your finances – I make $X,000 per month, but $X00 has to go to pay my debts. 

It will make it easier to quit a job you don't like. 

It will free your mind of the worry and stress that come with debt. 

You can set all of the good financial goals that you want, but it will be difficult to achieve any of if you are carrying a significant amount of debt for the rest of your life.

2. Plan for early retirement.

When I started as a financial advisor and finally grasped the concept of compound interest, I was determined to put myself in situation where I could retire by the age of 50 if I wanted to. I don't know if I'll ever really retire, because I absolutely love what I do.

Even if you absolutely love what it is you do for a living, planning for early retirement is one of those top rated good financial goals.

Here's why: 

Reaching your retirement goals may take longer than you think; if you plan to retire at 50 you'll have plenty of time to make it by 65 in the event that you hit a few snags. Poor health could make early retirement a necessity – if you've planned and prepared to retire early, then you will be ready. 

Family circumstances often require more of your time, and early retirement will help you to have it. Though you may not want to fully retire early, you may decide that you would like to downshift and not work so hard. It's better to be able to retire early and not need to, than to need to retire early and not be able to. 

There's one other advantage to planning to retire early, and it's a big one. By working toward early retirement, you will be front-loading your retirement investment portfolio. That will give you a larger portfolio early, which will mean that you won't have to work so hard saving for retirement later in life when doing so may be more complicated.

3. Have a well-stocked emergency fund.

We normally think of having an emergency fund as being a short-term financial goal. And from a mechanical standpoint, that's true. However, an emergency fund has important long-term benefits, which is why it's one of the good financial goals that you should plan to achieve.

Here are just some of the benefits that a well-stocked emergency fund can provide you with throughout your life: 

It can take away a lot of the money worries that you have, since you know that you will always have a reserve should you get into a tight spot. As is expected of an emergency fund, it will be there to cushion the blow in the event of a sudden emergency, such as a job loss or a large medical expense. 

It's an important money management tool – if you can save money for an emergency fund, then you can save money for any financial goal that you have. It provides you with an intermediate funding source – a kind of halfway point between your paycheck and your investment accounts – that you can use so that you don't have to disturb your long-term investments. 

Just having an emergency fund will make the wide swings in the stock market more emotionally tolerable, knowing that your survival isn't at stake when the market falls.

4. Create multiple income streams.

Even if you love your job, creating multiple income streams is a form of income insurance. For that reason alone, it needs to be on your list of good financial goals.

But here are even more reasons: 

One of those income streams could be the part-time cash flow that enables you to semi-retire at an early age. If you want to start your own business – but don't want to quit your job – starting a side business could be the way to do it.  

The extra cash flow from any additional income stream could be used to help fund your retirement savings.  It could also be used to help you pay off your debts. Several income streams could provide you with an income portfolio, that means that you're not dependent on a single source of income – ever! 

Reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad was a defining moment for me. Before then I was oblivious to the concept of having multiple streams of income. Over the years, I dabbled in many side hustles looking for "it". That included a few multi-level marketing companies that proved to be a flop.

I eventually took a stab at real estate and also failed miserable. Many would perceive these as failures, but I view them more as valuable life lessons that eventually led me to starting this blog. Now I have more than a few sites that yield over 6 figures per year. Not too shabby for a guy that had no web marketing experience before I started.

Give this goal some serious thought, even if you've never considered it before. It's a goal that could open the door to a lot of other goals.

5. Have enough – but not too much – insurance to cover contingencies.

Insurance is something of a tough call. A lot of people don't have nearly enough coverage, while many others are paying too much for the coverage that they have. Striking a balance between the two is another of those good financial goals.

Here are some strategies in striking that balance: 

Where life insurance is concerned, stick with term life insurance – it's cheaper so you can buy as much as you need. Just make sure that you're not buying so much life insurance that you'll be worth more dead than you are alive; it's just an expense you don't need to carry. 

Unless mandated by state law, look into the carrying the lowest level of auto insurance possible, particularly if you have a long history as a safe driver. Take the highest deductible you can on your health insurance, and make up the difference with an emergency fund that is large enough to cover that deductible – if you seldom use your health coverage, you'll be way ahead from the lower premiums. 

Part of your goal should be to work with a knowledgeable insurance agent on a regular basis to make sure that you have just enough – but never too much – insurance coverage. Oh by the way, did I mention that I'm also a co-founder of an independent insurance agency? 

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