Where are you going?

Years ago I heard  a  saying that went something like this:  “there was a pilot on a flight who made an announcement over the speaker.  “I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that we are making excellent time, the bad news is that we don’t know where we are going.”

Setting goals is so important!  Here are some of mine in regards to finances:

What are my goals?

• I have a $3000.00 dental implant that needs to be taken care of...
• Have enough to pay off my mortgage
• Have a ‘secret’ bank account for my kids to help support them with education/mission/marriage/home buying.  Figure out the best way to teach my kids about budgeting and finance. 
• Set up an allowance system that we actually follow.
• I would love to be able to help buy my dad and sister a home in town in the city that they live in/know that there was money to help with my dad’s retirement/health should that need arise....
• Vacations.... would love to be able to book one without spending  two thousand hours looking for the cheapest flight/hotel room....  Would love to be able to take my dad and sister on some of our vacations.
• Would love to be able to grocery shop without nickelling and diming it....however, even if I had the money, I probably would still do it
• Would love to go back to school myself and upgrade my knowledge in a few different areas.
• Have enough for retirement
• Make sure that we have adequate life and health insurance in place.
• Would love to get better at giving back to others and helping those in need.

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What have I learned blogging about finances so far?

*There are a lot of financial bloggers out there...and much to my surprise, there are a lot in Canada.  I’ve always just assumed that all of the information is geared towards the US.  That excites me because it means I can learn from their expertise and not have to get a degree in finance in order to figure out how to invest our money.

*That finding a  good financial advisor to direct you isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. 

*there are a tonne of people that don’t have a financial advisor...simply because they don’t know who to trust .  That means there are a lot of people like me out there who are trying to figure it out on their own.

 * That getting educated on finance is a pretty important thing to do.

* That writing a blog post each day is actually a lot of work.:)   One of the best pieces of advice I have seen about blogging is to just make sure you write each day.  Over time you might be surprised where your blog takes you...it may be in an entirely different direction that you actually thought.