My Top 5 Financial Goals
Okay, I told you about the financial goals which I have to identify before making sense of my investment strategy, right? Well, the following are my top five major financial goals as of this writing, and the approximate time when I should reach those:
- Graduate study — before turning 30 (about three years from now). By far, this is the most immediate and the most time-consuming in terms of preparation (admission form, test, interviews, essays, etc., not to mention choosing the school itself). There are at least two alternatives to a regular Master’s degree, which I expect to take, 1). Get a professional certificate instead (such as CFA), or 2). Go all the way for a Doctorate (Ph.D. or DBA). For financial planning purposes, let’s assume the regular option.
- Retirement — around the age of 50, give or take five years. Honestly, I don’t think I would ever retire in the usual sense. My boss said that she’d like to have the option to work, meaning that she’d like to work out of choice instead of necessity. Ideally, I’d like to retire as soon as possible in the sense that I only work because I want to in a job that I like without sacrificing my standard of living. Yeah, who doesn’t?
- Getting my place — assuming graduate study takes two years, then five years from now, after I graduate. This one is tricky since I don’t know where I’d end up. Depending on the situation, five years from now, I could be in Jakarta or another continent altogether. Or, my job could require me to be nomadic, without a permanent location. Should that happen, instead of having my own place, I could rent it for a awhile.
- Getting my first car — the most affordable yet facing the same problem as Goal # 3. Unlike a roof for you to stay, a car would most likely depreciate, and a nomadic condition would just burn a hole in my pocket faster than keeping one car for several years. I like my car compact and small, and among today’s options, the most expensive on the list would be a BMW Mini Cooper.
- Pilgrimage (Hajj) — before turning 40. Arguably cheaper than a car, but this one needs spiritual readiness, which is not readily affordable.
That’s all the top five I could think about. As for the amount of money I need to fulfill those goals, that’d be another discussion with my financial planner.