Setting Financial Goals for 2022

As we’ve almost reached the end of our program with Sun Life, we want to look forward to the coming new year and help you think about what you want to accomplish in 2022. Whether it be something large, like purchasing a home, or something smaller like paying off some debt, we want to see you achieve your goals this year! In that light, we wanted to share a few strategies you can use to help set your goals and actually reach them.

SMART goals

This is a tried-and-true system for creating meaningful goals, whether they be financial or not. SMART is an acronym, and stands for the following words:

S – specific 
The goal should be specific instead of vague, ex. I want to save $500 instead of I want to save money. 

M – measurable 
The goal is measurable in some way so that you can track your progress, ex. I’ll save $500 in my QUBER account.

A – attainable
The goal is achievable with the resources, skills and requirements you have now, ex. I’ll save $500 by cutting out all food purchases is not an attainable way to save money for most. 

R – realistic
The goal is something you can realistically accomplish, ex. pledging to save $1 billion is not reasonable for most people.

T – time-bound
The goal has a time structure associated with it, ex. I want to save $500 by March 25, 2022.

When you set SMART financial goals, you’re getting explicit about what you want to achieve with your money and how you’re going to do it. Using these parameters forces you to come up with a detailed goal that has a bit of a road map attached to it, meaning you’ll have a better chance of succeeding as you attempt to reach it. 

Write them down!

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When you write down your financial goals, they become tangible in a way they aren’t when they’re just ideas floating around in your mind. This exercise might surprise you, as from first thought it seems like it wouldn’t have much effect. However, if you take a positive tone in describing what you want to achieve and post that written note in a place where you’ll see it regularly, you’ll start thinking about it more frequently as something you can actually achieve. 

Ask an advisor

Whether you know what you want to accomplish in 2022 or not, speaking with a Sun Life advisor can help you evaluate your goals and build a financial strategy. An advisor might also offer perspective on your goals and help to highlight alternative solutions to support you. If you’re interested in speaking with a Sun Life advisor, click here. 

Keep yourself accountable

Finally, if you’re working on setting goals for yourself, it’s important before you start trying to achieve them that you know how you’re going to keep yourself accountable. This is often the most challenging part of reaching goals, so don’t forget to consider this carefully! 

Many people do better, at least in the early stages of the process, having a third party help them stay on track. This could be a good friend, a co-worker or even your advisor, but having someone to check in on you can make all the difference when you’re trying to stay focused. Once you’re in the later stages of reaching a goal, taking 5 minutes to do a written affirmation might be enough to keep your mind on your ultimate goal and prevent you from straying too far off track.

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