Exploring targets, difficulty, and accountability

Welcome to the Intentional Dollar weekly newsletter — great work taking this small step to move your money forward. I’m Logan, a Certified Financial Planner™, and I’m excited you’re here!

What’s inside?

• One tool to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

_{One tool to experiment with:}

Targets:

Have you ever clearly written out your financial goals?

Emphasis on “clearly” because I’ve witnessed a fair share of fuzzy financial goals. If your goals look or sound anything like the statements below, it’s time to add some specificity.

Common vague goals:

• “Save for a house.”

• “Save more money.”

• “Pay off my debt.”

Vague, fuzzy goals don’t inspire or induce action. They are idealistic but intangible. They are amorphous and unactionable. They are statements, not goals.

It’s imperative that our goals leave no questions. Let’s use the first vague goal as an example: “Save for a house.” This statement leaves too many questions to contend with. How much should I save for a house? Where should I save this money for a house? When do I want to have the funds for the house? How often should I save this money?

Think of each unanswered question as a point of friction impeding your desired action toward the goal. Less clarity equals more questions. More questions equals more friction. More friction equals more misses. More misses equals more bad money beliefs. These patterns persist in a sinister cycle.

So how might we clean and clarify the house goal?

We start by asking questions — a self-interview — to find what we really want and when we want it.

It might look something like this:

• What kind of house do I want? A $250,000 ranch in a newer neighborhood.

• When do I want this house? I would love to move into this home in two years.

• Where should I save for this house? I shouldn’t take market risk with this money, so I should save this cash in a high yield savings account.

• How often should I save? I could save at the start of each month.

• How much do I want to have saved? A downpayment of $25,000 and $10,000 of cash for furniture, closing, and other miscellaneous expenses.

• How much do I already have saved toward this goal? I have $10,000 in a savings account.

• What monthly payment do I need to save to save the additional $25,000 in two years? At a 4.25% interest rate, I need to save $1,000/month for the next two years to reach my goal.

Stitched together, your new goal reads: To hit my target of comfortably buying a $250,000 ranch in two years, I must save $1,000/month in my high yield savings account.

To reach our goals, we must have clear targets to aim at. We aren’t shooting arrows in an empty field. It’s helpful to start with targets that are close and easier to hit — working our way back as we go.

_{Two quotes on difficulty:}

Accumulating wealth is simple, but not easy. If it were easy to have a lot of money, money would mean less and more people would have it. Instead, it’s quite hard to accumulate wealth. Don’t confuse hard with complex, and remember that it’s supposed to feel challenging — that’s what makes it worthwhile.

_{Three questions on accountability:}

1. What pieces of my financial life would benefit from accountability?

2. Who might I lean on for financial accountability?

3. What consequence and reward systems could I setup for myself?

Which question stuck with you? Questions like these are spotlights for the mind. Reply to this email and let me know which one shined light on a previously dark cave.

_{Four lines of poetry for the point:}

Contact Me:

Content ideas, questions? Reply to this email or reach out to me at [email protected]