Your Goals and You - The Twain Shall Meet

Let's begin with your goals. Where do you want to be financially, and at what age? Some people want to send their kids (or grandkids) to school at a certain time, others want to retire by a certain age. Some may want to buy a car, while others want to take extensive travel trips. What about the potential wedding, or other big celebration? And let's not assume that you might not want to do all of these.

It may very well be possible for you to achieve your financial dreams if you are willing to take the time to find out what they may cost you, financially and otherwise. A 14 year old with no savings to date who wants to have $1 million by the age of 60 could invest $86.26 per month from now till then and with a fair return of 10%, would have that $1 million!(The stock market has achieved 10.3% average annual return for the past thirty years; 1976-2006.) That is good news for many 14 year olds! Now, if you have more years behind you, you'll have to save more to have that $1 million. If you're, say, 30 instead of 14, you'll need to invest $442.38 per month. But wait, what if you want to be a millionaire at 65 instead? OK, now all you need to invest is $263.39 per month! Not bad. And these figures are assuming you have no savings. Try the "compound interest" calculator on this blog site!

You see, time may be on your side. Albert Einstein said that compound interest was the "Eighth Wonder of the World." He wasn't kidding! The more you do now, even if it doesn't seem like much, the better off you'll be. And not only will you thank yourself, you'll be proud of yourself too. That's as good as it gets. Give yourself that gift. Make a move today to find a way to achieve some financial esteem.

In your corner. Tina Anders